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. JFCY’s CASA program supports young people in Ontario up to the age of 25 with no or precarious immigration status. CASA provides free, confidential supports, advice, referrals and legal representation, and outreach to enable young people to take agency of their futures and regularize their status.
Project Name: Childhood Arrivals Support and Advocacy Program
Project Type: Public Legal Education (presentations, workshops, podcasts, brochures, blogs, etc.), Research (memoranda used for internal purposes only) & Client services (court forms, shadowing, mock hearings, intake, legal clinic, etc.)
Project Delivery: Remote
Description of Project: Students will work remotely with the CASA Program Director to assist them with their caseload which may include client directed work and law reform. Typical tasks include:
• Development of communication and education tools with new and archival footage of CASA stakeholders
• Client services – including preparing immigration applications and undertaking research
• Systemic advocacy research
• Assistance with CASA communications and outreach
• Assisting with other matters as they arise (for CASA or JFCY broadly)
Although the student may get the opportunity to sit in on an intake meeting between a client and CASA, they will predominately be engaging in research-based work on a broad range of topics.
The CASA student will be closely supervised and are given regular feedback on task performance. They will submit their research directly to the CASA Program Director.
Pursuant to organizational and institutional regulations, the CASA student may be able to volunteer in the clinic depending on the current public health guidelines.
Role of Student Volunteers: Students will complete legal research and assist with client intake under the supervision of the CASA Program Director and Lawyer Supervisor.
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.
Pursuant to PBSC Policy 2, students are not permitted to give legal advice. Students will ensure they understand the difference between legal advice and legal information, and will be closely supervised by a lawyer supervisor wherever client facing operations occur. Students will not provide legal advice and will be sure to consult with their lawyer supervisor if situations arise where they are unsure about what they can provide to a client.
Role of Supervising Lawyer(s): The Supervising Lawyer (Candice) and Project Director (Sarah) will distribute appropriate tasks and oversee the research submitted by the student. They will provide guidance if questions arise and ensure that the work assigned to the student volunteer can reasonably be completed in 4-5 hours per week. The lawyer supervisor and project director will review and approve all final deliverables prior to use by the partner organization.
Type of Law: Immigration and Refugee 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: Ideally, the student will be required to commit to a four-hour shift where work will be completed remotely. Ideally shifts will be on a weekday (other than Friday) from 9:30am- 1:30pm or 1:00-5:00pm depending on the class schedules of the student volunteers. If work resumes in person, students will have option to attend in person.
Is there a workspace provided for the student at the Organization: When operations occur in person, workspaces are available for students.
Devices and technologies the students will be required to have: Computer, Internet access, 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 knowledge of immigration law an asset.
Other Requirements or Expectations:
- Experience teaching
- Demonstrated experience with best practices for the delivery of interactive pedagogy with technology
- Experience working with youth
- Interest in immigration law/migration rights
- Legal research and writing interest
- Interest in gaining client intake skills
- 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.