Mental illness and substance use disorders should not prevent people from accessing legal aid. Erin Davison, AmeriCorps VISTA for the Medical Legal Community Partnership (MLCP), is working to build the capacity of the MLCP to treat the socio-legal needs of Philadelphians with opioid use disorders. To celebrate September at National Recovery Month, Erin highlights the MLCP's partnership with Medicine Assisted Treatment (MAT) programs and how attorneys can act as harm reductionists and have a positive impact on clients' recovery journeys.
Medical-Legal-Community Partnership
Health Center 3 in West Philadelphia
The Medical-Legal-Community Partnership (MLCP) is part of a collaboration between Philadelphia Legal Assistance and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to provide free legal assistance on-site at community health centers. Through MLCP, law students from area law schools, supervised by PLA lawyers, provide advice and referrals to patients on-site at Health Center 3 and Health Center 4 in West Philadelphia. The goal of the partnership is for health center staff to work together with legal staff to improve patients' physical, social, emotional, and legal well-being.
The Medical-Legal Partnership model is being increasingly adopted across the country as a way to address the “social determinants of health.” There are many barriers to effective medical treatment: social, economic, and legal, and others. Health care providers cannot address these barriers directly, but they can partner with social workers and lawyers and together help patients overcome those barriers. Legal advocates and social workers, working in concert with healthcare providers, can address the issues that make patients’ lives chaotic: domestic violence, unsafe living conditions, child custody, debt, evictions, mortgage foreclosure, and loss of benefits.
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Any amount of support that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Locations and Hours
Health Center 3
Health Center 3 is located near the intersection of Chester Avenue (one block south of Baltimore Ave.) and 43rd Street in West Philadelphia, across from Clark Park.
555 South 43rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
It is accessible via SEPTA routes 11, 13, 30, 34, 36, and 42.
HC3 walk-in intake hours:
- Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Health Center 4
Health Center 4 is located on Haverford Avenue near 44th Street in West Philadelphia:
4400 Haverford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19104
It is accessible via SEPTA routes 10, 30, 40, 64, and the Market-Frankford El (46th & Market).
HC4 walk-in intake hours:
- Tuesday, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
- Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Practice Areas: Miscellaneous Legal Problems
Intake Procedure:Patients of Health Center 3 and Health Center 4 may apply in person during walk-in MLCP walk-in intake hours.
Applicant must be a patient of Health Center 3 or Health Center 4.
Funded By: Legal Services CorporationArticles
Legal Aid as Harm Reduction: How Legal Aid Supports Recovery from Opioid Use Disorder
Letter from the Executive Director Recognizing Recovery Month
September 2, 2019
Friends and Colleagues,
How HUD’s Proposal to Evict 55,000 Children will Affect Philadelphia’s Immigrant Communities
All communities need access to stable, affordable housing to grow and thrive. As a social determinant of health, sub-par housing can lead to many negative health outcomes such as asthma, stressed mental health, and lead exposure. Legal interns Lauren Davis of the Medical-Legal-Community Partnership and Maddi Gray of the Consumer Housing Unit discuss the state of stable, affordable housing for families and how the Department of Housing and Development’s proposal to limit immigrant families’ access to housing assistance may impact their health and livelihood.
Philadelphia Legal Assistance Receives LSC Pro Bono Innovation Grant
September 9, 2014 — The Legal Services Corporation announced that Philadelphia Legal Assistance is one of 11 legal aid organizations selected to receive grants from LSC's 2014 Pro Bono Innovation Fund. The grant will support PLA's Medical-Legal-Community Partnership (MLCP), which provides legal services at public health centers in Philadelphia neighborhoods. The MLCP, which PLA started in 2013, integrates legal aid attorneys, pro bono volunteer attorneys, law students, social workers, and healthcare staff to address patients' health-harming legal needs
Professionals
Catherine Anderson -
Attorney
Cynthia Haskin -
Attorney
Cynthia Haskin is the Supervising Attorney of the Medical-Legal-Community Partnership.
James Tiderington -
Attorney
Emily Tran -
Paralegal
