News from the National Center
This is where we share what is happening with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership such as new partnerships and funding, highlight changes in policies that impact medical-legal partnership work, and respond to events in the world.
LegalHealth Plays Key Role in NY Law Allowing Immigrant Parents to Designate a Standby Guardian for their Children
On June 27, 2018, a new law was signed in New York that allows parents who are at risk of immigration enforcement because of their status to designate a Standby Guardian to care for their children in the event the parent is detained or deported. LegalHealth, a division of the New York Legal Assistance Group, along with the Family Center and pro bono partner Greenberg Traurig, LLP, led the community coalition that played critical roles in helping to both draft and lobby for the legislation.
House Introduces Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2018
Congressmen A. Donald McEachin (VA-04) and John Faso (NY-19) introduced the bipartisan Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2018 to help protect millions of children from the severe health and developmental problems associated with lead exposure. If passed, the law would require pre-rental risk assessments of all federal housing units before families move in, and gives families the right to move and maintain public assistance if a lead problem is found and the landlord does not mitigate the problem within 30 days of notification.
NCMLP Convened Rural Health Leaders for Roundtable Exploring Cross-Sector Partnerships
On June 12, 2018, the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership convened a meeting at The George Washington University exploring ways that cross-sector partnership can advance the health of people in rural communities, with a special focus on how health care organizations can partner with local legal services to address patients' health-harming social needs.
Rule Change: “Screening for Health-Harming Legal Needs” is an Improvement Activity Under CMS’ Quality Payment Program
In the rule for the 2018 performance year of the Quality Payment Program, established by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services included “screening for health-harming legal needs” as a recognized Improvement Activity (IA) under Medicare’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System. Now eligible clinicians who screen patients for legal needs will receive credit in the IA category, which could potentially lead to an increased Medicare reimbursement rate.
SAMHSA Grant Applications List MLP as Way to Help Address Substance Use Disorder
The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides grants to states through two types of block grants to support community mental health and substance use disorder prevention/treatment. Grants are awarded to state mental health agencies and single state agencies. As a follow up to the federal agency roundtable the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (NCMLP) hosted in September on the opioid crisis, NCMLP learned that the application for the 2018-2019 grants specifically states that mental health agencies may wish to develop medical-legal partnerships.
NCMLP, Office for Access to Justice, and Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable Convened Federal Agency Roundtable on the Opioid Crisis
Earlier this month, the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership teamed with the Office for Access to Justice at the U.S. Department of Justice and the Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable to host a meeting at The George Washington University on the ongoing opioid crisis and how medical-legal partnerships can play a role in alleviating its effects.
Annual NCMLP Awards Honor American Bar Association & Programs, Practitioners in Arkansas, California & Pennsylvania
This year’s Medical-Legal Partnership awards honored the American Bar Association, Dr. Jeff Martin from Lancaster General Health, and programs at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. All awards are given by the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership and were presented on April 7, 2017, as part of the MLP Summit in National Harbor, Maryland.
58 Health Centers and PCAs Selected for The Social Determinants of Health Academy
Thirty-nine HRSA-funded health centers and 19 primary care associations were selected for the pilot year of The Social Determinants of Health Academy — a six-month virtual training series designed to help health centers and PCAs develop, implement and sustain SDOH interventions in their clinics and communities. Led by eight organizations, including the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnerships, The SDOH Academy is the first national initiative to offer a coordinated curriculum on multiple community-based SDOH interventions.
NCMLP Receives $2 Million Grant from RWJF to Study Impact of Legal Interventions on Health Care
The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership at the Milken Institute School of Public Health today announced receiving a nearly $2 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the benefits of legal interventions on patients and healthcare organizations.
Annual NCMLP Awards Honor Dept. of Justice, NYC Health + Hospitals & Programs, Practitioners in Ohio, Washington, D.C., Delaware & Iowa
This year’s Medical-Legal Partnership awards honored the Department of Justice, NYC Health + Hospitals, MLP programs in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., and advocates from Community Legal Aid Society in Delaware and the Iowa Primary Care Association. All awards were given by the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership and were presented on April 7, 2016, as part of the MLP Summit in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Advisory Board Company & Ropes & Gray Honored for National Contributions to MLP Movement
Awards given during the 10th annual Medical-Legal Partnership Summit on Thursday, April 9, 2015, honored organizations for their leadership in advancing the medical-legal partnership movement.
Annual NCMLP Awards Honor Individuals, Programs that Exemplify the Medical-Legal Partnership Model
James Teufel, MPH, PhD, and Matt VanWormer, JD, were honored with the Distinguished MLP Advocate Award. The Health Justice Project in Chicago, Illinois, Eskenazi Health Midtown Community Mental Health Medical-Legal Partnership, and the Nebraska Medical-Legal Partnership received the Outstanding MLP Award.
16 Civil Legal Aid Leaders Selected for Second Year of Health Care Fellowship, Led by NCMLP and NLADA
Thanks to generous support from the Public Welfare Foundation, the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership at the George Washington University and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association kicked off the second year of their Where Health Meets Justice Fellowship yesterday, designed to build healthcare expertise in the civil legal aid community. Sixteen senior level staff from civil legal aid agencies in 13 states and the District of Columbia met in Washington, D.C. to participate in workshops with healthcare experts.
HRSA Recognizes Civil Legal Aid as an “Enabling Service,” Allows Health Centers to Use Funding for MLP
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, modified its funding eligibility rules to allow health centers to use federal “enabling services” funds to pay for on-site civil legal aid to help meet the primary care needs of the population and communities they serve.
NCMLP Becomes HRSA-Funded Technical Assistance Center
The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership was awarded a 3-year National Cooperative Agreement (NCA) from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to cultivate and support medical-legal partnerships at community health centers across the country. The award comes with $300,000 in grant funds per year.
National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership Honored with Award from Whitman-Walker Health
The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (NCMLP) was honored today by Whitman-Walker Health, a D.C. based community health center, with the 2014 Joel A. Toubin Memorial Award. Whitman-Walker presents the award annually to recognize outstanding advocacy on behalf of people living with HIV and the LGBT community. NCMLP was honored for its work promoting integrated health and legal teams.
Georgia is the Second State to Endorse Medical-Legal Partnership
On April 21, 2014, Governor Nathan Deal signed SB 352, a bill codifying medical-legal partnerships in the state of Georgia. The new law gives the Georgia Department of Community Health authorization to approve medical-legal partnerships that comply with standards and guidelines for the purpose of determining eligibility for grants.
DNA-People’s Legal Services and NCMLP Convene Meeting Focused on Bridging Health and Legal Care for Native Americans
Forty-five legal aid, healthcare and government leaders representing dozens of Native American tribes met in Tuba City, Arizona, on May 29, 2014, to better understand the issues affecting tribal health and discuss the role legal care can play in addressing barriers to health care. The meeting, “Partnering for Native Health,” was convened by DNA-People’s Legal Services and the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, with funding from The Kresge Foundation.
Partnerships in Georgia & Hawai’i Honored with Outstanding MLP Award
On April 11, 2014, the Health Law Partnership in Atlanta, Georgia and the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawai’i were honored by the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership with the 2014 Outstanding Medical-Legal Partnership Award. The award was established in 2011, and is given annually to recognize programs that have made legal care part of the delivery of health care for vulnerable people and that have demonstrated significant impact on patient care and healthcare clinic practice.
Akin Gump Law Firm Honored for Building Partnerships to Meet Communities’ Health Needs, Legal Needs
The law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP was honored with the 2014 Outstanding Pro Bono Advocacy in Medical-Legal Partnership Award. The award is given annually by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service to recognize the significant role law firms and corporate legal departments play in promoting health through medical-legal partnerships across the country.