The University of Washington (UW), the Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), and the Child Study and Treatment Center (CSTC) sponsor a year-long fellowship in juvenile forensic services and child/adolescent psychology. Applicants must have obtained their doctoral degree from an APA-accredited institution and completed an APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship.
This fellowship is designed to provide forensic and clinical training, including pretrial evaluations and evidence-based interventions for severely mentally ill youth and their families. Fellows divide their time between conducting court-ordered evaluations of minors and delivering evidence-based interventions to inpatients and their families. All activities occur within multi-disciplinary settings, including exposure to the administrative functioning of a hospital setting.
Fellowship Type(s):
Clinical Fellowship, Psychology Fellowship
Department Faculty
Robin Berger, MD, MRCPsych
Jack McClellan, MD
Fran Lexcen, PhD, Associate Clinical Professor
The program has faculty with advanced expertise in juvenile forensic evaluations and child/adolescent development and psychopathology.
The forensic mental health aspect of the fellowship offers training and experience in pre-adjudication evaluations for juvenile courts with a primary focus on clinical diagnosis and forensic opinions regarding competence to proceed. Other evaluations that are occasionally performed include mental state at the time of the offense, competence to waive Miranda rights, or age-dependent status (e.g., “infancy” or referral to adult criminal court). Competence restoration is provided for a small proportion of the youth evaluated. There is a strong focus on interviewing and report-writing skills. Depending on type and number of forensic cases, fellows receive at least 60 minutes per week of individual supervision in diagnosis and forensic interviewing with additional group supervision.
Fellows provide evidence-based treatment to children and adolescents who are receiving long-term inpatient treatment and their families. Patients, ages 6 – 17 years, present with severe mental health conditions and/or developmental delays. Clinical supervision is geared to the fellow’s current cases (whether individual, group or family work) and is conducted by one of several clinical psychologists. In general, fellows receive at least 60 minutes per week of individual supervision with additional group supervision.
Former fellows are licensed in many states and work in community and private practice settings, delivering forensic services and clinical treatment to youth and families.
Research
Fellows may complete a research project or a scholarly work under faculty supervision during the year. Former fellows have presented at national conferences (APLS and APA) and published in peer-reviewed journals. However, this fellowship is based in a clinical setting and does not have the structure of a research-oriented fellowship.
The Child Study and Treatment Center (CSTC) is the state-supported psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents and serves approximately 65 patients referred from community programs for long-term inpatient care.
CSTC is located in wooded and attractive Lakewood, Washington, in the South Puget Sound area. Lakewood is minutes from Tacoma, one hour from Seattle, two hours from Portland, Oregon, and four hours from Vancouver, B.C. The scenic Puget Sound and surrounding mountains offer unparalleled recreational opportunities, with year-round hiking, seasonal skiing and snowboarding, mild summers and almost no mosquitoes ever.
CSTC Forensic Fellows attend weekly three-hour seminars that address issues in applied forensic psychology, twice-monthly case law seminars, and monthly case-conferences. In addition, trainings, consultations, and case conferences for inpatient interventions occur weekly.
Salary and Benefits
The stipend for the postdoctoral fellowship in psychology is in line with the postdoctoral stipends of NIH per year plus benefits. Benefits include vacation leave, sick leave, educational leave and medical/dental insurance.
Funding
Funding for the position is in the budget of the sponsoring institutions but offers are contingent on approval of the state budget.
Successful applicants are those with a doctoral degree from an APA-accredited program in psychology. If the candidate has not received the degree at the time of application, s/he must supply letters from the director of his/her training program and dissertation chair (when applicable) attesting that the candidate is expected to receive the doctoral degree before the fellowship start date.
Completion of an APA accredited pre-doctoral internship program is required. A letter from the director of the program attesting that the candidate is expected to complete his/her pre-doctoral internship before the start date is required.
Application materials
- Documentation of a completed doctoral degree
- Documentation of a completed internship
- Statement of interest and career intent
- Official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate studies
- Three letters of recommendation
- Curriculum Vitae
- Sample of a completed and sanitized clinical report (forensic clinical evaluation preferred)
Application materials must be complete by January 5 of the year of the fellowship start date.
Send application materials to:
CSTC Forensic Services Clinic
Child Study & Treatment Center
8805 Steilacoom Blvd, SW
MS W 27-25
Lakewood, WA 98498-4771
Questions and application materials
CSTC Forensics Team
Child Study & Treatment Center
8805 Steilacoom Blvd, SW
MS W 27-25
Lakewood, WA 98498-4771
253-761-3373 v
253-879-7933 f
Program content questions
Fran Lexcen, Ph.D.
Director, CSTC Forensic Services
253-756-2970
Fran.Lexcen@dshs.wa.gov
