This is a joint project between the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Osgoode Hall & University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Name of Organization: Justice for Children and Youth
Website of Organization: https://jfcy.org/en/casa/
Organization’s Mandate: Justice for Children and Youth strives to protect and advance the legal rights and dignity of children and youth. Justice for Children and Youth provides legal advice, representation, and assistance to young people under the age of 18 and unstably housed adults up until the age of 25.
Project Name: Digital Public Legal Education
Project Type: Public Legal Education (presentations, workshops, podcasts, brochures, blogs, etc.) & Research (memoranda used for internal purposes only)
Project Delivery: Remote
Description of Project: The student will work remotely to build a library of public legal education materials designed specifically to be disseminated on the Justice for Children and Youth’s social media pages. The student will use their research skills and creativity to develop schematic PLE materials that can be posted on social media. The primary platform is Instagram, but posts will also be created for Facebook and Twitter. The topics for the digital PLE materials (social media posts) will be provided by JFCY staff and/or will be developed in collaboration with JFCY staff. The student volunteer will be invited to attend the weekly scheduled meetings with the other student volunteers at JFCY, and this may create opportunities for student input for PLE topics to be covered through this project.
The expectation is that the student volunteer creates at least two digital PLE materials per week. PLE materials should be created in multiple versions to fit the requirements of all platforms (Instagram grid, Instagram stories, Facebook, and Twitter). The student will share the images/graphics they create, along with copy for a caption, with the lawyer supervisor. The digital PLE materials will be added to a library of materials that are ready to be posted to social media by JFCY staff. Student volunteers will not be expected to run the social media accounts, and will not be responsible for responding to comments, direct messages, and other public communications.
If applicable, the student volunteer will receive relevant branding materials from JFCY such as a high-quality copy of the JFCY logo to be added to all posts. The student is encouraged to develop a style guide, if one is not yet finalized, that outlines four brand colours (with HEX codes) and four brand fonts to ensure cohesive design is applied to all posts.
The student will receive topics/issues from JFCY staff and will use Canva (or their preferred platform) to create posts containing legal information directed at youth under the age of 25 in response to those requests. JFCY welcomes collaboration and the student’s input, but the primary focus will be on the topics identified by JFCY staff. The digital materials must be visually appealing, eye-catching, and informative. Student volunteers are not permitted to give legal advice; therefore, a disclaimer must be attached to all PLE materials. The student will work with the lawyer supervisor and staff at JFCY to determine the most effective way to ensure all legal information has the appropriate disclaimer.
When creating materials, the student may need to conduct research before designing PLE posts. Any research conducted that will inform the creation of PLE materials must be reviewed by the lawyer supervisor. It is advised that the student seek approval of research before beginning PLE designs to ensure accuracy and efficiency.
When creating PLE materials, the student will adhere to the standard image sizes and character counts for each social media platform. As of July 13th, 2021 the requirements are: Instagram grid posts: 2,200 characters for captions / image dimensions 1080 x 1080 px Instagram story posts: image dimensions 1080 x 1920 px Facebook: 63,206 characters for captions / image dimensions 940 x 788 px Twitter: 280 characters for captions / image dimensions 1600 x 900 px (The student is encouraged to use templates on platforms like Canva for ease).
Role of Student Volunteers: Students will receive topics/issues of interest from JFCY staff, will conduct any necessary research, and will use that research to create schematic PLE materials that can be posted on social media (Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter). Students will write captions to accompany the images/graphics when applicable and will share all of the PLE materials created with the lawyer supervisor. These materials will be composited in a digital library for the staff at JFCY to post on social media.
The PLE materials will be appropriate for an audience of youth under the age of 25. In general, students will be responsible for meeting deadlines, keeping open communication with their Lawyer Supervisor, and ensuring they are bringing any delays or concerns to the attention of the Lawyer Supervisor and/or Program Coordinator in a timely fashion.
Role of Supervising Lawyer(s):
- Ensure that the student is spending no more than 10% of their time on administrative duties – Distribute topics/issues to the student volunteer to guide PLE creation (or will put the student in touch with a staff member at JFCY to deliver topics and issues of interest)
- Provide guidance is questions arise
- Provide regular feedback on student work
- Ensure the work can be reasonably completed in less than 5 hours per week
- Review and approve all final deliverables before use by JFCY
- Ensure that information disseminated publicly contains a disclaimer that PLE materials do not contain legal advice
Type of Law: Poverty, housing, human rights, constitutional, immigration and refugee, administrative, family and criminal law
Main Project Deliverable: Creating produced content (e.g. research memos, brochures, podcasts, etc.)
Number of Student Placements: 1 student
Hours per week the student volunteer(s) will be expected to work: 4-5 hours/week
Regular shifts or a flexible schedule: Students will be required to commit to a four-hour shift where work will be completed remotely. Ideally shifts will be on a weekday from 9:30am-1:30pm or 1:00-5:00pm depending on the class schedules of the student volunteers.
Is there a workspace provided for the student at the Organization: If required, yes.
Devices and technologies the students will be required to have: Computer, Internet access, Zoom, telephone
Is there an expectation for the student(s) to be bilingual: No, but the ability to speak different languages would be an asset.
Law School Pre-Requisites: None, but criminal law, family law, administrative law and poverty law knowledge help.
Other Requirements or Expectations:
- Legal Writing Interest
- Interest in gaining skills with client interview
- Experience working with youth is an asset
- Experience working within an anti-oppression framework is an asset
- Other: Students are expected to work within a social justice, anti-oppression and children’s rights framework. Justice for Children and Youth is an inclusive and safe space. Students should be interested in legal research and have strong memo writing skills.