Systemic Advocacy

Boston Medical Center (BMC) health care providers and MLP | Boston’s legal team took a three-prong appoach to address the problem of utility access for low-income patients at BMC. They began by training front-line healthcare staff and providing direct legal assistance to low-income families, and then created institutional solutions that led to systemic impact across the state.

This report highlights the impact medical-legal partnership can have on systems change and underscores the need for active medical-legal partnerships to expand upon their dynamic service delivery model for a broader impact on policy.

CITATION:
Utility Access and Health: A Medical-Legal Partnership Patients-to-Policy Case Study. National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership and Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston. Boston: June 2010.

The MLP team at the Cleveland Community Advocacy Program in Cleveland, OH worked with the Cleveland City Council to pass a resolution in support of U Visas on March 22, 2010.

The MLPs in northern California organized a regional MLP policy initiative to investigate the housing code inspection practices in the San Francisco Bay Area. Medical students researched the link between inadequate housing and poor health and medical partners documented the health connection. A policy brief was written and disseminated in September 2009 with policy recommendations to improve access to healthy housing.

The report takes a close look at code enforcement policies and practices for dealing with moisture intrusion, ventilation, pest control and other housing issues that are particularly relevant to people with asthma.

The report was put together by the Medical-Legal Bay Area Regional Coalition.

On March 24, 2010, MLP Teams from eighteen states met with over seventy members of Congress and their staffs to talk about the positive impact medical-legal partnerships have on vulnerable individuals and families.

This webinar provides participants with tips for preparing client stories, answers questions about LSC sites’ participation in meetings on the Hill, and offers talking points and strategies for meetings.
Presenters:
Nicole Young, Principal, Podesta Group
Julie Strandlie, Legislative Counsel, American Bar Association
Ellen Lawton, Executive Director, National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership

There is currently strong language in the House healthcare reform bill for an MLP federal demonstration project. During this webinar, Ellen Lawton, executive director of the National Center and partners from the Podesta Group, provide an update on the status of the bill and outline strategies for Congressional outreach.

A second webinar will be offered specifically for MLP Capitol Hill Day participants.

Please note that there was a ten-minute audio glitch during this webinar that has been edited out. The attached PDF slides have the information that was skipped.

This webinar examines the language currently in the House healthcare reform bill for a medical-legal partnership federal demonstration project. It is specifically designed for Ohio partnerships.
Presenter: Ellen Lawton, Esq., Executive Director, National Center for MLP

The NY State Coalition of Medical-Legal Partnerships is working on legislation to amend the NY state public health law to include medical-legal partnership.  Attached is the draft legislation.  This is proposed language; it has not yet been introduced.

ABSTRACT:

Medical professionals are becoming more deeply aware that a child’s environment as much as, or even more than, biological and genetic factors can affect her health. One such environmental determinant of health is the condition of the housing where a child lives. All states and most localities have laws governing the conditions of residential property. Lawyers, by advocating proper enforcement of these laws, ensure that housing is safe and sanitary—and thus help children grow up healthy.

Doctors and lawyers team up to address housing problems for patients on individual and systemic levels.

CITATION:
Rx for Tenants.  Shelterforce.  Fall 2006:28.   D Holtzman.

In November 2007, the Kentucky Bar Association passed a resolution in support of a medical-legal partnership for Kentucky's children.

THEREFORE, NOW BE IT RESOLVED,

That, the Board of Governors of the Kentucky Bar Association encourages lawyers, law firms, legal services agencies, law schools and local bar associations to promote and provide broader access to legal services for these children and their families by willingly volunteering their services pro bono and financially supporting pro bono programs as a means for our profession to contribute to the advancement and betterment of our Commonwealth. Dated this 16th day of November, 2007.