Child Advocacy Clinic
The Child Advocacy Clinic (CAC) has a twofold mission of serving the needs of children and families who are at risk and living in poverty in Newark and the surrounding areas, and educating law students to be thoughtful and highly skilled practitioners.
Students in the CAC engage in a variety of activities including the direct representation of child clients in court and outside of court, community education and outreach, and policy and program development.
To reach the Child Advocacy Clinic, call: 973-353-3196
Each semester, the CAC enrolls eight to 10 second or third-year law students who work approximately 18 hours per week. Students primarily provide individual representation to children and/or families in court hearings and trials, in administrative hearings, and in mediation conferences. In addition, students participate in numerous community education and outreach efforts.
All of the CAC’s clients are children. The specific individual advocacy in which the clinic is involved includes: (1) obtaining or maintaining Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for children (federal public assistance for persons with disabilities), (2) representing children who are involved with New Jersey’s foster care system and who are the subjects of child protection proceedings, and (3) assisting undocumented immigrant children in obtaining immigration relief.
This means that students in the CAC regularly appear in various tribunals, including but not limited to, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, the Superior Court of New Jersey (Family Part), and the federal Office of Disability Adjudication and Review. The CAC encourages a holistic and comprehensive approach to representations. Therefore, students also are engaged in a tremendous amount of informal, out-of-court advocacy on behalf of their clients to ensure that all of their client’s needs (educational, medical, mental health) are being met.
Meet the Faculty
CAC Director Randi Mandelbaum has devoted her career to working with children and families. As the founding director of the Child Advocacy Clinic, she spearheads a unique clinical program, which is aimed at comprehensively addressing the needs of low-income children and their families. The CAC provides representation to foster children, undocumented immigrant children, and low income children with disabilities.Articles written by Professor Mandelbaum:
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With Professor Joanne Gottesman and the Immigrant Justice Clinic, the CAC spearheads a project whereby the two clinics represent children throughout the State of New Jersey, who are involved with the NJ Department of Children and Families and who also have legal immigration needs. In Newark, this project is staffed by attorneys, Ariela Herzog and Charlotte Levins, and by paralegal, Alma Godinez. In Camden, Sondra Furcajg is the assigned attorney.
The CAC also is a founding member of the NJ Consortium for Immigrant Justice and is honored to have received a grant from the Community Foundation of NJ to increase the number of immigrant children who are able to receive legal representation. The CAC supports this effort by recruiting, training and supporting private attorneys who are interested and able to represent one or more of these vulnerable children on a pro bono basis.
Professor Mandelbaum also has been involved in law reform and policy efforts in the area of immigration, in particular, she is has developed a particular area of expertise concerning a form of relief for abused, neglected, or abandoned children, known as Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. The following documents are a result of this work.
Special Provisions for Immigrant Youth: A Model State Statute (Prof. Mandelbaum co-authored this model family law code to illustrate how state family law codes could be revised to encompass provisions connected to Special Immigrant Juvenile status)
Comments to United States Citizenship Immigration Services Policy Manual (Prof. Mandelbaum authored comments critiquing recent policy changes adopted by the U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services)
Power of Attorney/Delegation of Parental Authority (Prof. Mandelbaum, with other attorneys, developed a form permitting parents who are concerned about being detained or deported to make arrangements for their children).
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With the generous support of the Schumann Fund, the CAC hosts the Aging Out Project, a statewide community education and advocacy program aimed at , ensuring that every youth in New Jersey, who transitions out of foster care, is aware of and receives the necessary and appropriate services and assistance from the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P), other state entities, and community organizations ensuring that all
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- Frequently Asked Questions about Power of Attorney Document (English & Español)
- Power of Attorney Document (English & Español)