Certificate in Children’s Rights

Any Whittier Law School student may seek a Certificate in Children’s Rights. The Certificate Program gives students a solid background in children’s advocacy through the required courses and also allows students some degree of specialization with the vast elective offerings.

To receive the Certificate in Children’s Rights, students must:

  1. Complete the following required courses:
    1. Family Law
    2. Juvenile Justice
  2. Complete a minimum of 2 units (plus Lawyering Skills) of Experiential Learning: Students may satisfy the Experiential Learning requirement with a two-unit Externship in an approved child law related placement or by the WLS Children’s Rights Clinic. Additional Externships or the Clinic may be used to satisfy the approved elective requirement. Students also must take Lawyering Skills as a co-requisite during the student’s first experiential learning experience.

  3. Attend a minimum of 8 (eight) CCR Colloquia, Distinguished Speaker Events, or CCR-sponsored symposia.

  4. Complete 3 units of approved elective(s), as described below.*

    5. APPROVED ELECTIVES

    • California Family and Juvenile Law Legislation
    • Children’s Advocacy Clinic
    • Comparative Juvenile Criminal Law
    • Criminal Trial Advocacy—Juvenile Section
    • Juvenile Law Advocacy
    • Street Law
    • Adoption Law
    • California Family and Juvenile Law Legislation
    • Child Custody: Law and Practice
    • Children’s Advocacy Clinic
    • Comparative Approaches to Gay and Lesbian Parenting: Artificial Insemination, Adoption, Foster Care, and Child Custody
    • Comparative Legal Systems: Law and Muslim Communities
    • Contemporary Problems in Family Law
    • Family Violence Clinic
    • International Adoption Law
    • International Children’s Rights
    • Comparative Family Law
    • International Reproductive Technologies
    • Legal Issues of LGBT Youth: A Comparative Approach
    • Reproductive Technology and the Law
    • Disability Law
    • Education Law
    • Special Education Clinic
    • Special Education Law

    Some of the approved elective courses are typically offered for 2 units. Students who choose a 2-unit elective can meet the minimum 3 units of elective credit in any of the following ways:

    1. Taking an additional unit of externship credit;
    2. Completion of a one-unit independent study in a related area;
    3. Membership on the Whittier Journal of Child and Family Advocacy, which requires completion of a note or comment; or
    4. Completion of an additional elective course from the above list.

    Additional courses may be approved as electives on a case-by-case basis. Students can petition the Director of the Center for Children’s Rights for advance approval of a course to be counted toward the elective requirement.

    Any inquires about this Certificate or the program in general should be directed to the Director of the Center for Children’s Rights, Jennifer Mertus, via telephone at 714-444-4141 ext. 243 or via email (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)).