Brock Albin

Brock is committed to practicing child welfare law in Montana. He has completed his second year of law school at Stanford where he founded the Child and Family Law Association and "Campus Child Advocates" an organization that recruits, trains, and supports volunteer representatives of children in Dependency court. Brock has produced a thirty minute documentary on Campus Child Advocates adn authored a course on Indian law for high schoolers. He also had a speaking part in the film A River Runs Through It. Brock has also worked at Public Defender Offices in Bozeman, Montana and San Francisco, California.

Len Edwards, a judge in Sacramento, California and one of the most influential leaders in child welfare on the national level, said "Brock has it all: vision, drive, and commitment; he is smart politically and multi-dimensional."

Brock will work this summer as a University of Michigan Child Welfare Law Fellow with the Missoula County Attorney, where he will work full time on child related matters, including dependency, abuse, neglect and juvenile offenders.

We were fortunate enough to speak with Brock in the fall of 1999! He is now practicing law in Bozeman, Montana. His practice concentrates on youth cases, law related education, and criminal defense. Brock also teaches a law course at elementary, middle, and high schools. He is President of Youth Imperative, providing free and reduced legal, health, and education services.

Laura Cerasoli

Laura spent her summer representing children in abuse, neglect, custody and guardianship cases at the Clinic. Her biggest project was conducting all of the legal research for a class action suit against a juvenile detention center that was denying educational benefits to its detainees. She also represented a twelve year old girl in a contested custody/neglect case for three months. She had several other clients in abuse and neglect cases.

Finally, she wrote a fifty state comparative study of truancy programs in the United States. The report was to be used to create a model truancy program for the Denver area. The Clinic is staffed by highly motivated and intellectual lawyers who are devoted to raising the standard of child representation in Denver.

Christina Chung

Christina spent her summer at the University of Michigan Law School in the Child Advocacy Law Clinic representing children and parents in child welfare cases. She interned at the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law in Washington, D.C., and was a student attorney at the University of Michigan Women and the Law Clinic. She has also worked with children in non-legal settings, as both an English tutor and a teaching assistant.

Matt Fisher

Matt has worked as a crime victim advocate for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence where he became concerned about how children are treated by the system. At the University of Montana, Matt was a member of the Native American Law Student Association and the Public Interest Law Coalition. He was placed with the Yellowstone County Attorney in Billings, Montana. Matt worked on child abuse and neglect cases in Yellowstone County. This county handles more abuse and neglect cases than any other county in the state. He also attended child and abuse task force meetings and assisted the county victim advocacy program.

Thea M Gilbert

University of Arizona
2263 W Ironwood Hill Drive #B
Tucson, AZ 85745
phone: 520.388.9189

As an interracial adoptee, Thea's experience in the field of child advocacy began at an early age. During her first year of law school, she founded the Association for Family and Child Advocacy, a law student group, which now has 40 members. This group was instrumental in demonstrating student support for the new Child Advocacy Clinic at the University of Arizona, and Thea is a member of the Clinic's Advisory Board and served on the Director Search Committee. For the Summer Fellowship, Thea was placed with Judge Nanette Warner, Pima County Juvenile Court in Tucson, Arizona. Thea is also a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program volunteer at the Pima County Juvenile Court and serves on the Board of the Pima Foundation for Youth. Thea is fluent in Russian and Spanish.

Kristin Kimmel

Kristin spent the summer of her Kellogg Child Welfare Law Fellowship at the Public Defender's office in Seattle, Washington, where she represented children and non-offending parents in child abuse/neglect and "children in need of services" (CHINS) cases. After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School in May, 1996, she began work at Lawyers for Children, Inc., in New York, New York, on a Skadden Fellowship. She represents children who have been voluntarily placed in foster care and children in custody and visitation cases. As part of her Fellowship, she will also be assisting the social work staff at Lawyers for Children in their creation of a support manual for children in foster care who are survivors of sexual abuse and parents who foster sexual abuse survivors. In addition, she is currently exploring a project in collaboration with other youth organizations in New York City to assist gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth in foster care.

Melissa Korpacz

Melissa's experience in child advocacy is personal and extensive. She has worked as a law clerk at the Department for Children, Youth and their Families, as well as the law offices of Lynch, Greenfield & Page, located in Providence, Rhode Island. While attending law school, she is the Residential Program Manager at a shelter for adolescents.

Frances Lee

Frances has counseled and tutored Latino students in Detroit. She has also worked with Native American children on the Porcupine Indian Reservation in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and coordinated bible school on a medical mission in Kenya. She speaks Spanish, Korean and Japanese. Frances' internship was with Lucas County Children Services in Toledo, Ohio. She worked with caseworkers who testify on behalf of the agency and expert witnesses who are called upon to testify on temporary and permanent custody of children in dependency, neglect, and abuse proceedings.

Recently, Frances worked at the Cook County State's Attorney's Office as a law clerk. She handled 14 bench trials, argued motions, researched legal issues and interviewed witnesses. After graduating, Frances intends to work in a prosecutor's office.

Elissa McMillen

Elissa, a Teach for America participant, taught for two years in Baltimore. While attending Boston College, she volunteers as a case reviewer for the Department of Social Services. Her placement was with the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, Boston, Massachusetts. Elissa worked on cases where the department was seeking custody of children.

Lisa Sellers

Lisa will continue to be a law clerk for Justice James Smith of the Mississippi Supreme Court until July 31, 1997. After that time, she will go into private practice in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. As part of her practice, she hopes to be able to continue with her interests in child advocacy by representing clients in Youth Court matters as well as serving as a guardian ad litem for children in need.

Lisa has undergraduate and graduate degrees in criminal justice. She coordinated the first statewide analysis of fatal child abuse in Mississippi. She also worked as an intern at the Attorney General's Office in Jackson, Mississippi. She was placed with Eileen Gault, a private practitioner in Jackson, Mississippi. Lisa worked on the Mississippi Families for Kids Initiative.

Allison R. Shiff

Allison spent a semester clerking for a juvenile court judge in Tucson, Arizona. In addition, she interned at the Attorney General's division which represents Child Protective Services in Tucson. Allison has also facilitated children's workshops for Parents Anonymous of Arizona. Allison recently published an article on the Therapeutic Jurisprudence effects of Teen Court, which she then presented at a conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Currently, Allison is working as a law clerk for the Arizona Court of Appeals.

Allison was placed with Hufford, Horstman, McCullough & Mongini, P.C. in Flagstaff, Arizona, giving her the opportunity to experience the practice of family law in a rural community. Through her work on child welfare cases, which included drafting pleadings and interviewing witnesses, she gained a better understanding of the legal dependency process.

Gillian Wood

Gillian designed and led abuse prevention workshops for youth and implemented a child assault prevention project at the House of Ruth in Washington, D.C. She was also a social worker for the Community Council for the Homeless in Washington, D.C. Her placement was in Seattle with the Office of the Attorney General of Washington. Gillian assisted in representing the Department of Social and Family Services in dependency, termination of parental rights, day care and foster care licensing issues.