Child Life Services Practicum Program
Children's National Hospital offers a child life practicum program to students who are interested in becoming a certified child life specialist (CCLS) and have academic training in the fields of child life, child development, early childhood education, psychology or another related discipline. Please note that an affiliation agreement must be established and signed by both Children's National and your university/institution.
The child life practicum program at Children's National provides students with an opportunity to shadow child life specialists and to learn from the various members of the Child Life and Integrative Care Services team. Students will also help facilitate the normal growth and development of pediatric patients through the provision of supervised, developmentally appropriate play opportunities.
At this time, we are ONLY offering a summer practicum session which is a condensed 40-hour week, 4-week long opportunity.
Please note we are not accepting applications for Summer 2027. We will follow ACLP internship deadlines for applications for Summer 2028.
Program Details
In order to apply, applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Active enrollment in a college or university
- As of January 2022, we can no longer accept unaffiliated students
- Minimum 3.0 GPA
- Experience working with well/healthy children, reflected in your resume
- Volunteer hours in a hospital setting, reflected in your resume
- Minimum of 50 hours completed prior to applying
- Must be under the direction supervision of a CCLS
Once accepted, students will be required to have an affiliation agreement (hospital contract) signed by their host university. Students must also successfully pass a background check and complete a health screening as a part of the clearance process before beginning the practicum.
Contact Information
If you have any questions, please contact program coordinators Laura Thackeray, CCLS, Kate Donofrio, MS, CCLS and Hollis Couch, MS, CCLS through the email below.