Since 2008, Project HEAL (Health, Education, Advocacy, and Law) at Kennedy Krieger Institute has partnered with law schools to provide meaningful internship and externship opportunities for their highest achieving students. A legal internship with Project HEAL is a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative public interest legal project through real world experiences helping underserved populations.
Project HEAL trainees have the opportunity to conduct legal research and draft memoranda on special education law; conduct client intakes and interviews; copy educational and medical records and organize client files; draft complaints for the Maryland State Department of Education for alleged violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004); draft presentations and trainings for Kennedy Krieger healthcare professionals and educators, patients and families, and community groups; attend advocacy group meetings on a monthly basis and attend bi-monthly Maryland Special Education Lawyers meetings.
Interested applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to Mallory Legg (Legg@KennedyKrieger.org). The application windows are as follows:
- Spring Semester: September 1st - November 1st
- Summer Semester: December 15th - February 15th
- Fall Semester: May 15th - July 15th
If accepted, trainees must provide immunization records, including covid-19 and flu vaccines, and may be required to receive titers as part of a health screening.
Current Trainees
Laura Benjamin
Trainee, Summer 2024
University of Baltimore School of Law
Laura Benjamin is a rising third-year law student at the University of Baltimore School of Law. She earned her undergraduate degree in political science and history from the State University of New York at Geneseo in Geneseo, NY. Laura entered law school knowing that she wanted to pursue education law, but after her summer 2023 internship under the education attorney at the Maryland Office of the Public Defender in their Juvenile Protection Division, she discovered her passion for special education advocacy. After graduating from law school Laura plans to work in special education advocacy. During her time at Project HEAL, Laura hopes to continue to learn all that she can about advocating for students with disabilities and become a more well-rounded advocate.
Isabella Long
Trainee, Summer 2024
American University, Public Health Scholar
Isabella Long is a rising senior in American University's three-year Public Health Scholar program from Burtonsville, MD. She is currently a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) John Lewis Public Health Scholar and will be spending her summer partaking in autism services research with the Kennedy Krieger Institute Center for Autism Services, Science, and Innovation and supporting low-income families in need of special education representation with Project HEAL. Within her degree program, Isabella focuses on health policy and economics. Her interests have led to her completing award-winning research on the experiences of individuals with mental disability who have had interactions with law enforcement and Medicaid expansion to undocumented immigrants. Having been a disability advocate for over eight years, Isabella is a firm advocate for disability justice and uplifting experiences of intersectionality for those identifying as both disabled and other marginalized communities. As president of her university's Disabled Student Union, she has facilitated multiple programming events to empower disabled students and their rights within the education system and labor market as future employees. Her experiences abroad have led to an aspiration to achieve a legal education that will allow her to practice law from an international lens