Tara I. Allen

Tara is a second year law student at Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, MA She has a long-standing passion for youth advocacy. Fot the past ten years, Tara has served as a community activist and youth advocate working with young people who were parents, substance abusers, HIV positive, gang affiliated and court adjudicated. She is also President of the Black Students Association at her law school.

Tara will work this summer at Lawyers for Children in New York City representing children who are in voluntary foster care. Lawyers for Children was a 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Andrea Barnes

Andrea is a first year law student at Boston College Law School. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology and has worked extnesively with children in a variety of research and clinical settings. Andrea has evaluated children for learning disabilities, custody and abuse. She has also served as guardian ad litem for children. She entered law school to broaden her repertoire of skills for serving children's needs.

Andrea will work this summer at the Massachusetts Department of Social Services in Boston. This office was a 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Oona T. Carr

Oona is a first year law student at the University of Mississippi College of Law. She holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration. Working with children has always been close to Oona's heart. She was an Upward Bound counselor, has worked in the court system with juvenile delinquents and is a youth Sunday School instructor. She is a Thurgood Marshall Assistantship Scholar.

Oona will work this summer at the Office of the Mississippi Attorney General in Jackson, MS. This office was a 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Tracy A. Cooney

Tracy is a second year law student at Brooklyn Law School. Her deep commitment to improving the lives of children led her to law school. Tracy has worked for five yeats with low-birth weight, cocaine exposed infants. She was awarded an Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship which provides her with full funding for her summer work.

Tracy will work at the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society in New York City. She will represent children in foster care. This is a new Summer Fellow placement.

Marianne S. Hardin

Marianne is a first year law student at University of Arizona college of Law. In addition to attending law school, Marianne is an associate faculty member at Cochise College in Sierra Vista, AZ. She has extensive experience advocating for foster children. For the past six years, she and her husband have served as a therapeutic foster parent for the Arizona Department of Economic Secutity.

Marianne will work this summer at the new Child Advocacy Law Clinic at the University of Arizona College of Law.

Serena S. A. Hart

Serena, a native Alaskan, is a second year law student at the University of Washington School of Law. She has worked representing parents accused of abuse and neglect and with At Risk Youth and Children in Need of Services.

Serena will work this summer at the Society of Counsel Representing Accused Persons (SCRAP) in Seattle. This office was a 1995 and 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Heather A. Hilario

Heather is a first year law student at the University of Montana. She has overcome considerable challenges in her life; as a single parent existing on a poverty income, she has maintained success at both the university and community level. Heather has broad interests in cultural diversity. As a Chicano, she has served as President of the Native American Peer Advisors. The group assists students with the transition from living on a Reservation to living in an Anglo society.

Heather will work in Montana this summer. We are looking for a placement where she can work with Chicano children in the child welfare law system.

Melissa Igdaloff

Melissa is a second year law student at Duke University School of Law. She has extensive work as a guardian ad litem and interned with the Child Abuse and Neglect section of the Washington, D.C. In-House Counsel's Office. Melissa is a member of the Hispanic Law Students Association.

Melissa will work this summer in the Southern Piedmont Legal Service Office in Charlotte, N.C. She will represent parents accused of child neglect and abuse. This office was a 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Mary Perrin Johnson

Mary is a second year law student at the University of South Carolina School of Law. She has extensive experience in child advocacy. Mary has served as a guardian ad litem and interned with the American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law and has worked with the FFK Initiative as a law clerk for the South CArolina Department of Social Services.

We are in the process of securing a placement for Mary in Columbia, SC.

Roxanne Mendez Johnson

Roxanne is a first year law student at the University Inner-City of Arizona College of Law. She was a bi-lingual teacher in Houston for two years with Teach for America. She was part of the student group that worked to start the Child Advocacy Law Clinic at her law school.

Roxanne will work this summer with Judge Nanette Warner and Judge Hector Compoy on the Court Improvement Project of the Pima County Juvenile Court, Tucson, AZ.

David Leeds

David is a second year law student at the University of Kansas School of Law. He has worked with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. He has interned in the Defender Project Clinic where he provides legal assistance to inmates in Kansas prisons.

David will work this summer at Kansas Legal Services in Topeka. This office was a 1995 and 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Tara Michelle Lyons

Tara is a first year student at the University of South Carolina School of Law. As a camp counselor, she provided cultural enrichment and modeled dispute resolution techniques for her campers. She believes that it is important for her, as an African American Woman, to learn about the system that plays a role in so many children's lives.

Tara will work this summer at the South Carolina Department of social Services. This office was a 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Catheryn A. O'Rourke

Catheryn is a first year law student at Harvard Law School. She became committed to exploring the rights of children while working for Lawyers for Children inNew York City. After graduating from college, she served as the assistant Principal of St. Mark Evangelist School in Harlem where she encountered the many challenges that confront children growing up in the inner city.

Catheryn will work this summer at the Children's Law Center of Massachusetts in Lynn, MA. This office was a 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Mark Reilly

Mark is a first year law student at Boston College Law School. His commitment to public service led him to serve as a VISTA Volunteer for at-risk youth in Los Angeles, CA. As a law student, Mark participates in a research and advocacy program at Boston Medical Center to benefit women who are in abusive relationships.

Mark will work this summer at the Office for Public Counsel in Salem, MA. This office is a new placement.

Shawn L. Raymond

Shawn is a first year law student at the University of Texas School of Law. For two years he taught high school special education and history in Ruleville, MS, as a member of Teach for America and AmeriCorps. This experience profoundly affected his decision to attend law school and led him to plan his career as a legal advocate for children's rights.

Shawn will work this summer with the Office of the Attorney General in Jackson, MS. This office was a 1995 and 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Ann M. Reyes

Ann is a second year law student at the University of Michigan Law School. Her vision is to bring a voice to numerous children of color who are often ignored. Ann is President of the Latino Law Students Association.

Ann will continue her work with the University of Michigan Child Advocacy Law Clinic this summer. The Clinic was a Summer Fellow placement in 1995 and 1996.

Teasa M. Scott

Teasa is a second year law student at the University of Texas School of Law. Her dream is to use all that she has learned to assist children with the first steps down life's pathway. Last winter, Teasa was able to involve the child welfare system in helping a person close to her family. This experience led her to apply for the fellowship.

Teasa will return this summer to her home state of Ohio to work with the Summit County Children's Services in Akron, OH. This office was a 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Margaret Simkin

Meg is a first year student at the University of Michigan Law School. She has worked at UNICEF and tutored elementary and middle-school children through the Volunteer Services for Children. Meg campaigned for and then worked on the staff of Senator Ron Wyden.

Meg will work this summer at the Office of the Public Defender, Seattle, WA. This office was a 1995 and 1996 Summer Fellow placement.

Aaron Caspe Singer

Aaron is a first year student at the University of Michigan Law School. He has worked with children in a variety of settings, including helping immigrant children in their acclimation to American culture adn the acquisition of English, as a camp counselor and as principal of a small community school.

Plans are in process for Aaron to work this summer on child welfare legislation in Lansing, MI.

Neal Takiff

Neal is a second year student at New York University School of Law. He received a NYU Public Interest Committee Summer Grant. His interest in child welfare law arises from his experience with Teach for America in inner-city Houston, Texas. Neal has served as a CASA volunteer and on a variety of children's rights projects -- from bettering the educational opportunities of children to educating children in the juvenile justice system of the rights.

Neal will work this summer on foster care policy issues at the National Youth Law Center in San Francisco, CA. This is a new Summer Fellow placement.

Kelly Warner-King

Kelly is a second year law student at New York University School of Law. She received a NYU Public Interest Committee Summer Grant. Prior to attending law school, Kelly worked as an education policy analyst at RAND and the Program for Reinventing Public Education. She entered law school with the goal of working directly with children and families. She is the Co-Director of Legal Advocacy at the Youth and Family Justice Center in East Harlem, NY.

Kelly will work this summer at Team Child, a joint advocacy project of the Seattle Public Defender's Office and Columbia Legal Services. It is designed to integrate civil and criminal advocacy for children. This office is a new Summer Fellow placement.

Kathering R. Weatherly

Kate is a first year student at the University of Michigan Law School. She is interested in child welfare law, particularly the fate of Native American children. Kate has extensive experience with children as a nanny and working in a University child care center. She is co-founder of the Native American Law Students Association.

Kate will work this summer with Yakima Nation Tribal Court Judge Julian Pinkham. This is a new Summer Fellow placement.

Gwynne H. Wiatrowski

Gwynee is a first year student at Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. She holds a Master's Degree in education and has extensive experience working with inner-city children. For four years, she worked with Project Zero of the Harvard Graduate School of Education designing and implementing research projects to improve student's literacy and thinking skills.

Gwynee will return to her home state of Montana for her summer work.