Civil Legal Services and Medical-Legal Partnerships Needed by the Homeless Population

A National Survey

Bibliographic Data

ID11035513
AuthorsJoyce Tsai (0000-0002-0329-648X, Jack Tsai is with the Veterans Affairs New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center and the Division of Mental Health Services Research, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Darlene Jenkins is with National Health Care for the Homeless Council, Nashville, TN. Ellen Lawton is with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, George Washington University, Washington, DC.), Jack Tsai, Darlene Jenkins (Jack Tsai is with the Veterans Affairs New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center and the Division of Mental Health Services Research, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Darlene Jenkins is with National Health Care for the Homeless Council, Nashville, TN. Ellen Lawton is with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, George Washington University, Washington, DC.), Ellen Lawton (0009-0003-4063-0074, Jack Tsai is with the Veterans Affairs New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center and the Division of Mental Health Services Research, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Darlene Jenkins is with National Health Care for the Homeless Council, Nashville, TN. Ellen Lawton is with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, George Washington University, Washington, DC.)
Year2017
Volume107
Issue3
Pages398-401
Publication date2017-03-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2016.303596
PMID28103065
OpenAlexW2576603374
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited8

Objectives. To examine civil legal needs among people experiencing homelessness and the extent to which medical-legal partnerships exist in homeless service sites, which promote the integration of civil legal aid professionals into health care settings. Methods. We surveyed a national sample of 48 homeless service sites across 26 states in November 2015. The survey asked about needs, attitudes, and practices related to civil legal issues, including medical-legal partnerships. Results. More than 90% of the homeless service sites reported that their patients experienced at least 1 civil legal issue, particularly around housing, employment, health insurance, and disability benefits. However, only half of all sites reported screening patients for civil legal issues, and only 10% had a medical-legal partnership. The large majority of sites reported interest in receiving training on screening for civil legal issues and developing medical-legal partnerships. Conclusions. There is great need and potential to deploy civil legal services in health settings to serve unstably housed populations. Training homeless service providers how to screen for civil legal issues and how to develop medical-legal partnerships would better equip them to provide comprehensive care

Business · Civil society · Environmental health · General partnership · Health care · Health law · International health · Legal profession · Legal research · Legal service · Political science · Politics · Population · Public relations · Service (business) · Service provider · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Legal Education and Practice Innovations · Medicine · Health Policy

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