Medical-Legal Partnership for Children (MLPC)
MLPCH is still operational and that we are handling cases remotely at the present time. Considering the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic and resulting court delays, we are focusing primarily on legal issues related to the pandemic: emergency housing, employment, and benefit termination issues. We encourage providers and their supporting staff to contact us directly at 808-688-3313 or via encrypted email at cosio@hawaii.edu to discuss these case matters and share relevant documents.
The MLP Alerts page can be found at: https://www.mlpchawaii.org/mlpc-alerts
MLPC
An innovative collaboration between KKV and the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law to provide “preventive legal care” alongside “preventive health care.”Since April of 2009, MLPC lawyers, law students, doctors and medical residents have worked together on-site at KKV health center to provide direct legal services to over 500 low-income families in Kalihi Valley. MLPC attorneys and law students often meet with families right in the exam rooms, while children wait for their vaccinations and booster shots.
MLPC has reached hundreds more through "Know Your Rights" outreach and educational workshops. MLPC Hawaiʻi is based on a model developed in 1993 by the Boston Medical Clinic when Dr. Barry Zuckerman hired an attorney to “address the social determinants that negatively impact the health of vulnerable populations.” Today, the MLP model has grown to a national network of over 230 healthcare sites in 34 states. In 2014, MLPC Hawai‘i was honored to receive an “Outstanding MLP Award” by the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership at the National Summit in Seattle, Washington.
Our Programs
MLPC Hawai‘i runs twice-weekly, free Legal Advocacy Clinics for low-income families on-site at the Kokua Kalihi Valley health center (KKV). We also run Legal Advocacy Clinics at The Towers at Kuhio Park housing (TKP).
The Legal Advocacy Clinics coincide with the KKV Pediatrics Clinics every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
Contact us at: (808) 688-3313
We accept walk-ins but ask that you call first to make sure we are able to see you.
What We Do:
MLPC follows the national model of engaging in the following three core activities:
Providing direct legal services to low-income clients through Legal Advocacy Clinics on-site at a community health clinic setting;
Transforming legal and health practice through professional education and training; and
Working together as doctors and lawyers to address systemic advocacy issues, including policy change, community empowerment, and professional training.
