Eligibility and Criteria

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MEMBER ELIGIBILITY

Law School
In order to participate in the Summer Corps program, you must be a current student at an Equal Justice Works member school and must graduate no earlier than December in the year of your summer of service. 

AmeriCorps
In order to be eligible for any AmeriCorps program, including Summer Corps, you must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States. During the application process, all applicants will be required to provide proof of their status by submitting acceptable documentation of eligibility, such as a copy of an unexpired U.S. passport, birth certificate, certificate of naturalization or Lawful Permanent Resident card. 
 

QUALIFYING PROJECT

In order to be eligible for Summer Corps, you must have secured a placement for the summer. Your service project should adhere to the following guidelines:

• You must provide direct legal services to low-income and underserved individuals. This includes conducting intake, performing client and witness interviews, assisting with courtroom representation, and carrying out legal research and writing.
• You are strongly encouraged, but not required, to engage in community education and outreach efforts as a part of your service. This includes creating, updating or translating educational and outreach materials and conducting "know your rights" presentations.
• Your project is not eligible if you do pure policy work.
• If you are performing indigent defense work, you are only eligible if your organization is a state, county, or nonprofit public defender. Offices such as the Federal Public Defender do not qualify.
• You may not engage in any activities prohibited by AmeriCorps during your service hours, including but not limited to
  * proselytizing or engaging in religious instruction;
  * attempting to influence legislation;
  * assisting, promoting or deterring union organizing;
  * engaging in partisan political activities;
  * and/or providing a direct benefit to a for-profit entity.

All Summer Corps members must sign a document certifying they do not partake in any prohibited activities throughout the course of their project.

FUNDING

• Members can seek additional sources of funding for their projects and are encouraged to do so.  Law school, bar foundation and other public interest fellowship awards are acceptable as long as the award is not paid on an hourly basis or as an employee wage.
• Because Summer Corps is an AmeriCorps program, members cannot receive an hourly wage, except for Federal Work Study Awards, from the host organization for their service.  However, a member may receive a “living allowance” up to $4,300, which is not a wage and not paid on an hourly basis.  Host organizations must distribute a living allowance at regular intervals and in regular increments, only during the member’s term of service and must cease when the participant successfully concludes the term of service.      
• Summer Corps members can receive Federal Work-Study Awards during their term of service, but must disclose this amount to Equal Justice Works and, if applicable, ensure that the host organization reduces the member’s living allowance by the amount of the work-study award.

QUALIFYING ORGANIZATIONS

AmeriCorps members serve in AmeriCorps State and National projects in every state, U.S. territories, and on tribal reservations.  In accordance with the federal regulations and program guidelines that govern AmeriCorps, Summer Corps must serve in the United States at a domestic 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or qualifying public defender program.  These include:

• Nonprofit organizations serving low-income and underserved communities;
• State, County, and nonprofit public defender offices;
• Legal service organizations; and
• Civil rights organizations.

The following settings do not qualify as Summer Corps host organizations:

• Federal government agencies such as federal defender offices, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice;
• Government agencies including, district attorney's offices, offices of the attorney general. (Please note state and county public defender offices do qualify. See above.)
• Internationally-focused or internationally-based organizations;
• Judicial clerkships; and
• Private law firms of any sort.

For further information on where AmeriCorps members can serve and the benefits to service, please visit http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/choose/state_national.asp.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Equal Justice Works evaluates Summer Corps applications and selects members using a number of factors including :

• Quality of the application;
• Eligibility of the applicant and applicant’s host site;
• Geographic diversity;
• Law school diversity; and
• Any current Equal Justice Works initiatives such as Veterans’ issues or placement at a current AmeriCorps Legal Fellow host site.

The application will require you to describe the types of direct legal services you will provide throughout the course of your project, provide an overview of the client population you hope to reach, including whether it is low-income and/or underserved, and describe the supervision you will receive at your organization. 

Applicants will also be required to tell us why they went to law school, why they are pursuing a career in public interest law, and what inspired him or her to work in the indicated area of law.

Please submit a complete and thorough application.

BACKGROUND CHECKS

Because Summer Corps is an AmeriCorps-funded national service program, all applicants must consent in writing to undergo a National Service Criminal History Check.  In accordance with federal law, Summer Corps applicants will be required to undergo the following criminal history checks:  FBI fingerprint-based criminal history checks; State criminal registry checks in the state of service and state of residence at time of application; and a National Sex Offender Public Registry search. 

Equal Justice Works will conduct and review the results of each National Service Criminal History Check after the applicant has applied to the Summer Corps program, but prior to enrolling those who are selected as Summer Corps members.  Selection in the Summer Corps program is contingent upon Equal Justice Works’ review of the background check results.  Having a criminal conviction is not an automatic bar to service.  Each application is reviewed on a case by case basis.  The Summer Corps application provides further details about the criminal background check process.

QUESTIONS?

If you have questions about the Summer Corps program, please send an email to summercorps@equaljusticeworks.org or post a question on our forum.

Ready to apply? Click here to learn more about the application process.