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Pledge for Internship Equity & Acces

The internship process is a key factor to the certification path and access into the profession. Several barriers have been identified over the past several years regarding the internship process. Evaluation of materials, review of expectations, and alignment of needs surrounding internship have been key priorities for ACLP, especially they relate to goals of diversifying the membership and strengthening a vital component of entry into the professional community.

The ACLP Board has identified the following directives which together form the Pledge for Internship Equity and Access. These are upheld and supported by ACLP’s committees including Education & Training; Internship Accreditation Oversight; Academic Excellence Task Force; Internship Readiness Work Group; and the Child Life Certification Commission in recognition that it will take the entire community to advance our shared goal of creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive child life education and training experience for all.

As members of the child life community, we pledge to uphold the following:

In Preparation for Internship, Academic Programs Will Strive To...

  • Offer a variety of content formats (i.e. case studies, guest speakers, interviews, role-play) that support various learning styles and abilities to provide opportunities for student application of theories and developmental psychology/science and health science knowledge.
  • Focus assignments and discussions on child life assessment (application of theory/science),intervention planning (evidence-based), and evaluation (outcomes and reflection).
  • Include Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) learning topics, specifically topics of how racial bias,racial trauma, social determinants of health, multicultural theories, gender identity and sexual orientation, abilities, and family culture can influence the patient-provider relationship.
  • Ensure curriculum reading lists include authors of color and appreciation for the contributions of various child development perspectives that exist amongst cultures.
  • Ensure coursework includes assignments that prompt students to exercise reflective practice, recognize implicit bias and counter-transference, and how one can take action steps to address inequities and discrimination in healthcare and within the community.
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Internship Programs Will Strive To...

  • Use the Internship Readiness Common Application. Programs are strongly encouraged to refrain from requesting additional documents during the initial submission of the application (i.e. resume, cover letter, letters of recommendation, verification forms, course-in progress forms, official transcripts).
  • Accept all application materials electronically to enhance accessibility, consistency, and environmental sustainability.
  • Use the interview process to further assess a candidate's Internship Readiness Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs).
  • Accept paid and unpaid experiences within and outside of healthcare settings as relevant opportunities for applicants to develop and demonstrate the KSAs for internship readiness.
  • Be transparent with internship requirements (i.e. affiliation, graduate degree).
  • Refrain from charging applicants a fee for submitting an application.
  • Offer virtual interviews at all interview stages of the application process.
  • Ensure virtual interviews are weighted equally with in-person interviews when selecting candidates.
  • Implement an interview process that is equitable and supports candidates of all abilities.
  • Where possible, utilize inclusive marketing materials and develop recruitment strategies to increase candidate interest from historically excluded groups.
  • When possible, create opportunities that increase accessibility for underrepresented groups and minimize the financial impact during the internship experience (e.g. scholarship fund).
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SIGN THE PLEDGE

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Academic Institutions & Clinical Programs Who Have Signed the Pledge

Academic Institutions


  • Bowling Green State University
  • Department of Human Development and Family Science, Syracuse University
  • Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Alabama 
  • Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University
  • Eastern Washington University
  • Loma Linda University
  • Meredith College
  • Missouri State University
  • Texas Woman's University
  • The University of Iowa
  • Towson University MS in Child Life, Administration and Family Collaboration
  • University of Georgia 
  • University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  • University of Missouri Human Development and Family Science Child Life Program
  • Utica University

Clinical Programs

  • AdventHealth for Children
  • Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
  • Cape Breton Regional Hospital Child Life
  • Capital Caring Kids
  • Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  • Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
  • Children's Mercy Hospital
  • Children's Minnesota Child Life / Music Therapy / Bereavement Department
  • C.S. Mott Children's Hospital
  • Connecticut Children's
  • Dartmouth Health Children's
  • Dell Children's Medical Center
  • Denver Health and Hospital Authority
  • Denver Health Medical Center
  • Doctors Hospital of Augusta
  • Driscoll Children's Hospital
  • Duke Children's Child and Adolescent Life Internship Program
  • Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida
  • Good Samaritan University Hospital
  • Gundersen Health System
  • Hasbro Children's Hospital
  • Helen DeVos Children's Hospital
  • INTEGRIS Children's
  • Intermountain Health (9 hospitals)
  • Johns Hopkins Child Life Department
  • Johns Hopkins Children's Center
  • Kuwait Association for the Care of Children in Hospitals/Bayt Abdullah Children's Hospice
  • Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
  • Lutheran Children's Hospital
  • M Health Fairview
  • Maria Fareri Children's Hospital
  • Mary Bridge Children's
  • Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt
  • Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
  • Nemours Children's Health, Delaware
  • New York-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital
  • Newton-Wellesley Hospital
  • Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital
  • Oishei Children's Hospital
  • Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children
  • Phoebe H. Stein Child Life Program, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY
  • PlayWell Child Life Services
  • Providence Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital 
  • Providence St. Vincent Medical Center Child Life Program
  • SSMHealth Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
  • St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
  • Stormont Vail Health
  • Surrey Memorial Hospital
  • UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, Oakland 
  • UC Santa Barbara PaCE
  • UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
  • Yale New Haven Children's Hospital
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