Getting Started

Below are key articles and sample planning documents that can be used if you are thinking about starting a medical-legal partnership.  For more information about starting a partnership, request a MLP 101 binder.

Articles

Zuckerman, B, Sandel, M, Lawton, E, Morton, S. Medical-Legal Partnerships: Transforming Healthcare. The Lancet. 8 November 2008; 372(9650): 1615-1617.

Planning Documents

Medical-Legal Partnership Planning Grant
A sample medical-legal partnership grant proposal written by the New Hampshire Health Law Collaborative.

Sample Medical-Legal Partnership Planning Budget
This budget and budget justification are an example for a medical-legal partnership in its first year.  All medical-legal partnerships are structured slightly differently, and as such, there is no exact budget.

Medical Champion Job Descriptions
Sample job descriptions for a range of medical-legal partnership "medical champion" positions including:

• Local Medical Director
• Community Health Center Clinical Liaison
• Medical Director of Training and Education
• Nurse Champion
• Social Work Champion

Most partnerships begin with a Local Medical Director.  It is recommended that a partnership site’s Medical Director has at least .10 FTE protected time dedicated to the partnership.

Sample Memorandum of Understanding
A memorandum of understanding between Legal Aid of Nebraska and Father Flanagan's Boys' Home formally establishing their medical-legal partnership.  The MOU delineates their perspective roles, and outlines how restricted information will be shared.

MOUs are optional and will depend upon the needs of the individual partner institutions.

Massachusetts Assessment Screening Questionnaire
A questionnaire developed as a screening tool to identify families who might benefit from the services of a medical-legal partnership.  This questionnaire can also be used in formative evaluation, providing a means for quickly assessing the legal needs present in a particular setting (community or medical clinic) in which the creation of a new medical-legal partnership is planned.

It was written and validated by David Keller and Nathan Jones of the Family Advocates of Central Massachusetts (FACM). Please acknowledge the authors if you choose to use this instrument.

Advocacy Boot Camp Overview Training
This MLP | Boston ABC overview presentation explains social determinants of health, how a clinical provider can help identify unmet legal needs and the role of medical-legal partnership.  This training is used independently and also proceeds issue based trainings in each of the I-HELP areas (Income Supports, Housing and Utilities, Education, Legal Status (Immigration), and Personal and Family Stability).  These presentations can be modified by new partnership sites to train their clinical and community partners.