Core Components and Activities

Medical-legal partnership's three key activities transform the delivery of health and legal services to improve the health and well-being of America's most vulnerable individuals and families.

Legal Assistance in Healthcare Settings

• Attorneys and paralegals become members of the healthcare team to assist patients on-site at hospitals and health centers. MLP legal teams provide a broad legal assistance on a broad range of issues, commonly referred to by the acronym I-HELP: Income, Housing and utilities, Education and employment, Legal status/immigration and Personal safety.
   

Transforming Health and Legal Institutions & Practices

• MLPs reorient health and legal services to early detection and preventive care through the training of students, residents and practicing physicians and legal providers.
• MLP teams improve institutional practices to more effectively address patients' non-medical needs, such as establishing a hospital policy regarding utility protections for low-income patients.
   

Policy Change

• Together, healthcare providers and attorneys can have a powerful voice in the policy realm. MLP teams leverage health and legal expertise to improve local, state and federal laws and regulations that impact the health of vulnerable populations.