Legal Aid
Michael Wall
Doctors are ready and willing to treat a child with a respiratory infection caused by a mold infestation in that child's home. But what can the doctor do about the mold itself, which will eventually send the child right back to the doctor's office with another infection?
Not much, and that's why law professors Sylvia B. Caley and Lisa R. Bliss launched the Health Law Partnership (HeLP) Clinic, a free legal clinic designed to help low-income children overcome socio-economic barriers to better health.
HeLP, a collaboration between the Georgia State College of Law, Atlanta Legal Aid Society and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, maintains offices within the law school and Scottish Rite and Egleston children's hospitals.
"The attorneys who work these cases are full-time, paid employees of Atlanta Legal Aid hired specifically for HeLP," said Caley. "But I supervise them and I am employed by Georgia State."
It's an innovative combination of medical and legal communities that few universities, if any, have attempted. Atlanta Legal Aid and law school faculty have already handled more than 250 cases, and that number will drastically increase once students join the clinic, for school credit, in January.
The attorneys have handled cases involving family law, housing conditions, consumer cases and even adoption and custody cases. The lawyers also took up a case involving a young son who needed daily transportation for his dialysis treatment.
All of these types of cases involve the belief that poverty, lack of education, access to transportation and other social issues play a role in the health of children.
Involving law students adds another important component. "We want to improve [the legal clients'] lives, and we want to produce lawyers who want to collaborate with other disciplines such as medicine and social work," said Caley.