Children and the Law provides mental health and legal expertise to organizations serving families with children and adolescents involved with the law, including the courts, and to individuals and families through their attorneys.
Training Programs
One-year post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology
The Children and the Law Program, through the Massachusetts General Hospital, sponsors a one-year post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology. Applicants must have a Ph.D. or Psy.D. in psychology with an APA-accredited predoctoral internship. Child clinical training is required. Fellows will receive the training required for Child and Juvenile Court Certification. The two one-year fellowships begin September 1, and Fellows are appointed as clinical fellows in Psychology at Harvard Medical School.
The fellowship experience consists of approximately 40% time working at the Children and the Law Program, 40% time at the Boston Juvenile Court Clinic, and 20% time in didactics and research.
Work at the Children and the Law Program involves the fellow taking primary responsibility for conducting court ordered evaluations, typically regarding custody cases in high conflict divorces. The fellow, under supervision, will conduct interviews with principals and collaterals, review records, do home visits, and write a comprehensive evaluation in these cases; they may be called to testify in court. In addition, fellows will learn to perform psychological testing in a forensic context. In all, fellows are expected to complete ten cases over the course of the year.
The Boston Juvenile Court Clinic provides high quality mental health evaluations and expertise in a busy, urban juvenile court. The fellow will conduct a number of evaluations in Children in Need of Services (CHINS) cases, as well as in Care and Protection and Delinquency matters.
The core of the didactic experience for the fellow is a three-hour block of seminars every Tuesday morning, covering a wide range of topics in both child and adult forensic matters, as well as landmark court cases. The didactics are a shared experience with the child psychological fellows, adult forensic psychiatry fellows, and a range of other trainees from around the hospital and juvenile court clinic. In addition, fellows participate at the beginning of the year in the Harvard Law School’s trial exercise, and at the end of the year in our own mock trial exercise. Fellows may attend academic conferences during the year, and the educational opportunities offered by the hospital and by Harvard University are plentiful. Opportunities for research are available through the Children and the Law Program.
Learn more about our Forensic Psychiatry Fellowships.
TO APPLY, by January 15, please send:
- Curriculum vitae
- Statement of Interest
- Three current letters of recommendation
| TO: | Robin M. Deutsch, Ph.D. Director of Forensic Services MGH Children and the Law Program 388 Commonwealth Ave, Lower Level Boston, MA 02215-2800 |
Family-centered pediatric care 
MassGeneral Hospital for Children is a full-service pediatric hospital providing the entire spectrum of care, treating more than 60 specialties and subspecialties.
