Legislative Advocacy Internship

*aCCEPTING APPLICATIONS ON A ROLLING BASIS*

The goal of the Legislative Advocacy program is to advance legislation at the State House. Our current advocacy is a campaign to advocate for comprehensive juvenile justice reform through the legislative process to: (1) require transparency and accountability in child-serving systems; (2) prevent entry into the legal system; and (3) reduce the harm of legal system involvement. Interns assist with campaigns as well as coalition management; research and report drafting; voter education; and legislative and grassroots event planning.

We are in the process of hiring interns to help with these projects:

• Raise the (Upper) Age campaign: We are looking for preferably an upperclassman or graduate students who can assist in outreach to (1) private sector (businesses, unions, economists, and trade groups), (2) law enforcement stakeholders, and (3) public health leaders to help build the case for re-imagining the criminal justice by raising the age of automatic adult prosecution. This position will involve a lot of outreach, networking and meeting key stakeholder and event planning.
• Data Visualization and Analysis - Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice and Criminal Justice Trends: The goal of these projects are to evaluate impact of child welfare and juvenile justice policies on adult criminal justice involvement. Both projects rely on publicly available data. The data visualization project allows policy makers to review trends and court involvement outcomes on CfJJ’s public Tableau page. The data analysis project uses different data sets to identify trends that may influence future children’s involvement in the legal system. This position requires an intern with strong quantitative research skills and a demonstrated interest in utilizing data science to advance social and racial justice. Experience with Tableau preferred.
• Juvenile Diversion Qualitative Research: CfJJ is conducting qualitative research on implementation of the 2018 juvenile diversion law. The intern will finalize interviews with stakeholders, analyze the findings and draft a policy brief on the implementation. This position requires an intern with strong qualitative research skills and ideal for a graduate or law student.
• Raising the Lower Age Qualitative Research: In 2018, the legislature raise the age at which a child would be subject to court proceedings from age 7 to age 12. After several years of implementation, CfJJ is conducting qualitative research to identify the impact of this law change on other child-serving sectors. This position requires an intern with strong qualitative research skills and including stakeholders interviews and strong writing skills. Applicants with a public health background strongly preferred.
• Coalition Building and Engagement: In preparation for the 2025-2026 legislative session, the intern will outreach to current members of the Juvenile Justice Reform Coalition and other stakeholders to organize regional stakeholder meetings, manage the grassroots training and engagement project, and assist in planning lobby days at the State House.
• Voter Education (spring and summer of even years only): CfJJ publishes voter guides every year targeting the upcoming election. This summer, CfJJ plans to publish a voter guide targeting focused on equity, policing and school-to-prison-pipeline issues in the upcoming elections. The Voter Education intern will serve as project manager convening partner organizations, and compiling content for the guide.