Program advisors Dan Nevers and Lisa Rickert place more than 60 students per summer in partnerships with a variety of governmental and nonprofit agencies that have ties to the criminal justice system. In addition to the Madison Police Department, agencies that benefit regularly from partnerships include public defender and district attorney offices, crime victim and witness programs, mental health centers, the State of Wisconsin probation and parole office, juvenile detention centers, halfway houses, drug and alcohol abuse centers, and homeless shelters. At least 45 agencies participate every summer. Thirty hours a week for 10 consecutive weeks is quite a commitment, Nevers admits, but it is necessary to guarantee that the students make a significant contribution to the agency that is partnering to help educate them. The CJCP program is very demanding, and it's not a one-way street, Nevers says.
Students get a tremendous amount out of it, but the agency gets a lot out of it, too.
The student placement process is as rigorous as the internships themselves. To make sure that the match is a good one, screening and interviewing starts in October for internships the following June. I think we owe it to the agencies to take great care and make sure that they are happy, Rickert says. All of these agencies are short-staffed and really welcome the extra help. Gretchen Schultz, another CJCP student and a UW-Madison senior, spent the past summer working for the Family Crisis Center in Stevens Point.