Student Opportunities

Law Students

The Social Work Advocacy Program (SWAP) regularly collaborates with clinic faculty and law students on their cases. SWAP ensures that law students learn how to provide holistic representation to their clients and advocate for needs that go beyond the legal setting. Many clinic clients navigate a range of issues—from lack of housing to unemployment to poor health—that hinder their ability to participate effectively in their cases. Through SWAP’s involvement, law students learn how to link clients with essential services and support. SWAP also teaches clinic law students the skills to develop collaborative relationships with their clients, which assists them in their advocacy.

Social Work Students

SWAP offers immersive field placement learning opportunities for social work students, from local master’s-level graduate programs to work within the Bluhm Legal Clinic. This programming also benefits Northwestern Pritzker Law by deepening SWAP’s relationships with others in the Chicago social work community and by deploying these interns to provide additional social work services to clients and student attorneys.

Social work students who work with SWAP are trained in the comprehensive skills of case management and learn to foster strong rapport with clients while coordinating their care across communities, institutions, and agencies. Through SWAP, social workers, law students, attorneys, and social work students develop client social histories, identify and address the factors that contributed to client involvement in the criminal or juvenile legal system, and help clients navigate their interactions with the law. Social work students play an integral role in advocating for the individuals they serve—from courtrooms to classrooms, doctor’s offices to prisons, faith organizations to social service agencies, and throughout clients’ re-entry into their communities after detainment and incarceration. With guidance from SWAP leadership, students take responsibility for their cases and clients, gaining valuable experience that helps them become competent and confident social workers.