Health Disparities

The heart of this project is the Medical-Legal Partnership, launched in 2003. This is an innovative collaboration between the Community Health Team at the Massachusetts General Hospital Health Care Center in Chelsea and an attorney from LCR.

The goal is to improve the material well-being of low-income immigrants and refugees who receive their medical care at MGH.

The pediatricians and mental health providers refer their patients to an LCR attorney who is on-site one day a week and who provides direct pro bono legal assistance in housing matters, disability benefits, child support, unemployment compensation, and naturalization assistance.

While there are more than 150 medical-legal partnerships in the United States, our program is unique in linking a civil rights attorney to a community health team composed of 16 medically certified interpreters, experienced case managers, social workers, and specialists in infant-parent care.

In addition to coordinating the Medical–Legal Partnership, the Health Disparities Project works closely with other organizations to reduce lead paint poisoning in low-income communities.