USC Gould Student Named Bergstrom Fellow

USC Gould student shares about her fellowship experience at Michigan Law.

By Ahmanielle Hall

Bergstrom Fellow Stephanie Krol says she enjoys the child welfare field because it allows her to make a difference in children's lives.

Stephanie Krol ’14 has been selected to attend the Bergstrom Child Welfare Law Summer Program at the University of Michigan Law School. Each year the program seeks what it calls the “best and brightest” students from across the country to take part in its 10-week program. Krol was chosen as one of its 25 fellows.

The Bergstrom Child Welfare Law Summer Program requires that students demonstrate a commitment to the field of children’s law, something Krol has done through her work helping students and families excel in the classroom and in their everyday lives. In 2012 she worked as a law clerk for Public Counsel, the nation’s largest pro bono law firm. She also worked as program manager and curriculum coordinator for Youth IMPACT, planning curricula for low-income elementary students.

“I have a long-standing commitment to working with children and families in need,” Krol said. “I began actively volunteering with children as early as high school and became immersed in more volunteer opportunities once I began college at UC Berkeley.”

More recently, she became a member of the San Francisco Court Appointed Special Advocate Program (CASA), where she mentors youth and assists with their legal needs. She said the fellowship program supplemented her work experiences with worthwhile professional insight and networking opportunities.

“The Bergstrom Child Welfare Law Fellowship is a wonderful opportunity for those interested in the child welfare law field to come together to both learn from some of the leading experts in the field and to also form a community of future child advocates,” Krol said. “Creating change in this field is a national undertaking, so it is important to have created these connections early on in my legal career so that we can create the most effective change in the future.”

During her time in the fellowship, she and the other students have learned what she called a “wealth of information” related to child welfare law, such as constitutional law, the impact of trauma and proper child interviewing techniques. She said USC Gould has also been integral in preparing her for the fellowship.

“Being involved with the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) and my summer clerkship opportunities has been immeasurably helpful in preparing me for Bergstrom,” Krol said. “Additionally, courses like Access to Justice andFamily Law helped me understand the on-the-ground advocacy as well as important legal questions surrounding the field of family law.”

This summer, she will work her fellowship assignment as a legal assistant at Children’s Law Center in Monterey Park, Calif. As she enters her final year of law school, she says that opportunities such as the Bergstrom Child Welfare fellowship have only helped solidify her decision to continue working in this field.

“The child welfare field is an area of tremendous need,” Krol said. “I enjoy working in this field because you have a chance to interact and advocate for those children who are in the most tumultuous periods of their lives.  I like to know that I can make a difference and help kids achieve some semblance of normalcy and stability while they are attempting to achieve permanence in their family structures.”