There are three steps you must take before completing an application:

• MEMBER ELIGIBILITY

• QUALIFYING ORGANIZATION
  

• QUALIFYING PROJECT

Member Eligibility

Law School

In order to participate in the Summer Corps program, you must be a current student at a 2009-10 Equal Justice Works member school and must graduate no earlier than December 2010.

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. Once accepted, all Summer Corps members 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.

More infomation in the forum

Qualifying Organization 

In accordance with the federal regulations and program guidelines that govern AmeriCorps, Summer Corps host sites must be 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations or qualifying public defender programs. These include:

• Nonprofit organizations serving low-income and underserved communities;
• State, County, and Nonprofit public defender offices;
• Legal services 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 Environmental Protection Agency, the 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; and
• Private law firms.

If you are not sure whether your organization qualifies, please send an email to summercorps@equaljusticeworks.org.

More information in the forum

Qualifying Project

In order to be eligible for Summer Corps, 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, participating in courtroom advocacy 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. These include:
  * 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.

Below are examples of past projects that qualified for Summer Corps. 

Legal Services Organization
The Summer Corps member assisted low-income, Spanish-speaking migrant farm workers with applications for citizenship, advocated for farm workers who were not paid fair wages, and researched the role of the U.S. Constitution in the denial of service by driver's license agencies to undocumented and documented farm workers.

Legal Services Organization
The Summer Corps member served victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita by conducting initial intake interviews, assessing their needs and eligibility for resources and assisting them with applications for FEMA benefits or other sources of aid.

Civil Rights Organization
The Summer Corps member provided services to minority clients alleging a variety of civil rights violations such as employment discrimination, unfair school discipline and constitutional violations in criminal cases.

More information in the forum