30 Years of the Bergstrom Child Welfare Law Summer Fellowship Program

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The three-day program was facilitated by Professor Vivek Sankaran, ’01, longtime director of the fellowship program. Sankaran is director of the Law School’s Child Advocacy Law Clinic and Child Welfare Appellate Clinic and the co-director of the AI Law and Policy Clinic, which will be offered beginning in the winter semester of 2026.

In 1995, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation provided a three-year start-up grant as part of the foundation’s Families for Kids Initiative to establish what was then known as the Summer Child Welfare Law Fellowship through the Child Advocacy Law Clinic. 

The program is now funded by a generous gift from the Bergstrom Foundation in honor of the late Henry A. Bergstrom, ’35. In addition to the training, fellows receive a stipend to attend a national conference within one year after completing the program. 

Traditionally, the Bergstrom Summer Fellowship has gathered students from across the country to Michigan Law classrooms, right in the heart of Ann Arbor. However, for the past two years, Sankaran has conducted the program in the style of a retreat, an hour away from the city and in a peaceful, wooded area. 

“This program is the only national training opportunity for law students interested in pursuing a career in child welfare law to come together and learn from experts before their summer placements,” said Sankaran. “Returning to a classroom right after exams is the last thing I thought students would want. So, we all stay at the retreat center together, spending time in nature.”

Sankaran noted that a thorough education covering the legal aspects of the foster care system is scarce among many law schools, often leaving students interested in this area feeling isolated. Becoming a Bergstrom Fellow helps introduce students to like-minded peers, as well as a growing network of fellowship alumni.

“I hear stories all the time about students staying in touch with one another in organic ways. That’s the biggest win of it all,” saidSankaran. “When I get pictures from conferences and of fellows having dinner together, I realize that continuing to build a community is the biggest thing we can do for these folks.” 

During the retreat, there is a focus on discussing the trauma that parents and kids face in the system. Sessions on poverty, kinship care, and the weight families are carrying are important to Sankaran. “It’s overwhelming, in more of a positive than negative way, for students to have their eyes opened to these situations and learn how we as lawyers can play a role in alleviating that suffering.”

The retreat prepares fellows to then spend at least 10 weeks at a child welfare law internship.

Michigan Law has been a leader in the foster care legal space since the establishment of the Child Advocacy Clinic in 1976. Sankaran noted that Michigan Law’s excellence continues in part because of the Bergstrom Fellowship, especially as it evolves in response to the broader legal landscape. 

“Through the Bergstrom Fellowship, we’ve focused on what law schools often neglect to do: teach students about trauma, compassion, empathy, and self-care,” said Sankaran. “These topics aren’t always addressed, but they are crucial to doing this work well.”

Sankaran looks forward to building on the retreat-style programming that the last two years have offered and, in time, bringing in fresh voices while keeping the tradition of the fellowship alive for years to come. 

“I am grateful to Michigan Law and Hank Bergstrom for having the vision to create the space for us,” he said. “I hope the folks who invested in this program many years ago know that it is making a profound difference in students’ lives and, by a derivative effect, the families they serve.”