Postdoctoral Fellowship

Cook County Juvenile Court Clinic
Chicago, IL

Northwestern University and the Cook County Juvenile Court Clinic (CCJCC) invite applications for postdoctoral fellowships in forensic psychology for the 2010-2011 academic year.  The 12 month fellowship includes supervised clinical work and didactic components and is a collaboration between the CCJCC and Northwestern University (NU) Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.

The fellowship is primarily based at CCJCC, located in Chicago’s Cook County Juvenile Center, which also houses Cook County’s Juvenile Court, Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, and Department of Juvenile Probation.  Cook County’s juvenile court serves the city of Chicago and approximately 144 surrounding suburbs, and consists of a child protection (abuse and neglect) division and a juvenile justice (delinquency) division.  CCJCC is a public entity operating under the authority of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, and provides a variety of services to address the Juvenile Court’s mental health information needs.

Fellows choose either a child protection or juvenile justice track within the general forensic psychology post-doctoral curriculum.  Licensed clinical psychologists with expertise in forensic evaluation train and supervise fellows to act as the primary clinician for sentencing evaluations in juvenile justice proceedings or of parenting capacity evaluations in abuse and neglect proceedings.  Fellows also may assist in other evaluations conducted by CCJCC psychologists including fitness or competency to stand trial, competency to waive Miranda rights, evaluations used for termination of parental rights, and competency to consent to adoption. 

Fellows will participate in weekly didactic seminars on relevant legal and clinical issues, with special emphasis on issues relevant to juvenile proceedings.  Examples of seminar topics include: General Forensic Principles; Use of Psychological Testing in forensic assessment; Expert Testimony; the Origins of Juvenile Court Proceedings; Evolution of Constitutional Protections in Delinquency; and legal and clinical aspects of particular forensic evaluations, e.g.,  termination of parental rights, competency to waive rights under Miranda, evaluations for use in juvenile disposition or sentencing.  Seminars include readings from primary and secondary sources, including statutory and case law.  Fellows also will participate in the weekly seminar for post-doctoral fellows at the Northwestern Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the Feinberg School of Medicine located on NU’s Chicago campus.

Applicants must have a doctoral degree in psychology and have completed an APA-accredited pre-doctoral clinical internship.  Fellows are paid an annual stipend of $38,500, and receive full benefits and an additional $500 for professional development.

 Applications:  Please specify if application is for juvenile justice or child protection track.  Send letter of purpose, curriculum vitae, and three letters of reference by February 15, 2010 to:   

Jennifer Clark, Psy.D.
Cook County Juvenile Court Clinic
2245 W. Ogden Avenue 5th floor
Chicago, Illinois 60612
Email:  j-clark5@northwestern.edu