Disability Policy Leadership Program

Overview

Internship Opportunity

The Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) invites first or second year law students to apply for participation in the Disability Policy Leadership (DPL) Program in BBI’s Washington, DC. This internship offers select law students the unique opportunity to work on legal projects dedicated to research, writing, analysis, and policy development in the area of Disability Civil Rights.

Four students will be selected on a competitive basis to participate in this unique program. For eight weeks, the selected students will be provided a highly structured learning experience to develop public policy from a disability perspective and engage in research and writing on statutory and regulatory issues that impact persons with disabilities and their families.

Law students who participated in previous DPL Programs had the opportunity to meet policymakers and key staff, observe congressional floor debates, attend legislative and administrative hearings, provide research support to Task Forces of the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities, and learn the essential skills of negotiation that are part of effective advocacy.

Program Leadership

BBI’s DPL Program operates out of the BBI Washington, DC office under the direction of BBI Executive Director Michael Morris, and in coordination with on-going research initiatives at BBI’s headquarters at Syracuse University. Morris is a former staff member of Senator Lowell Weicker (Conn.) and legal counsel to the Senate Small Business Committee. He has over 25 years of experience in public policy development to advance social and economic independence for individuals with disabilities.

Comments by co-chairs of The Consortium For Citizens With Disabilities (CCD) regarding the summer legal Interns – 2006

Past Recipients