Off to Law School with A Deepened Appreciation

I interned at Mifflin County Children and Youth Services in Lewistown, PA. I worked as a caseworker assistant, doing most of the daily tasks a caseworker does in their day-to-day. My supervisor, Dana Bubb, is the Administrator of MCCYS, and my mentor is a supervisor of the in-home unit.

I sought out an internship with Children and Youth because I knew that I would be attending law school in the fall to pursue a career in family law. This experience has equipped me to serve families better through the law. It has prepared me to work more productively with social workers and approach family law from a new light. I believe I aided the agency in becoming more organized, creating a more efficient mentoring and onboarding process, and bringing a new energy to office culture in the midst of difficult and emotionally tasking work.

My Human Development and Family Studies major gave me the necessary skillset to be a competent helping professional. I memorized best therapy practices and gained understanding in child and adolescent development. In classes fulfilling my Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor, I learned what it meant to think from the perspective of an individual of different race, gender identity, physical ability, sexual orientation, and class status, which all came into play as I interacted with and served the families of Milffin County. Lastly, I learned from my Child Maltreatment and Advocacy Studies minor differences between discipline and abuse and how to best advocate for a maltreated child. I took this knowledge and could more easily apply it as I navigated the child welfare system as a young professional.

In my few internship experiences in social work, I have noticed a gap in understanding between social workers and the attorneys they work with. Attorneys often lack education in child development, understanding of complex family issues, and knowledge on how to appropriately discuss sensitive topics with clients. They don’t always have complete understanding of what it is caseworkers do for the families they serve. As a future attorney, I now have deeper appreciation for all child welfare professionals and will be more inclined to use an interdisciplinary approach to my work. I am heading to Penn State Law in the fall and hope to maintain the connections I have made through my internship experience in Mifflin County.