Medical-Legal Partnership Supports New Haven Children & Families

As part of a unique collaboration between Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) and the Center for Children’s Advocacy (CCA), a medical-legal partnership (MLP) offers legal support for children living in the New Haven area who receive services at YCSC and are facing legal barriers that impede their health and well-being.

Attorney Kathryn Meyer, Esq., is co-located within YCSC through the partnership, through which she assists clinicians and staff in addressing various health-harming legal needs for families. Meyer’s practice includes legal consultation and related training for YCSC providers, in addition to advocacy with and on behalf of low-income children and families.

“We are proud to have established, along with CCA, the first medical-legal partnership in a children’s behavioral health setting in the country,” shares YCSC Associate Clinical Director Christiana Mills, LCSW. “It is a natural fit,” adds Meyer, “because it allows us to work in a seamless and integrated way with our client’s medical providers so that our advocacy is more efficient and effective.”

Since the MLP at YCSC was established in November of 2020, Meyer has worked with YCSC staff to provide information about children’s legal rights for a variety of matters. This has included educational advocacy for children with disabilities who are not getting access to legally-required services or children who are being illegally suspended or expelled from school, benefits advocacy to obtain social security and other entitlements to families, housing advocacy to address unsafe conditions or discrimination in obtaining access, and immigration advocacy to connect clients to services and legal aid.

“This collaboration is the only medical-legal partnership in the country dedicated exclusively to interdisciplinary advocacy in a children's behavioral health setting,” comments Mills. The partnership began with support through a small grant from Yale Law School combined with funding from the Viola W. Bernard Fund for Innovation in Mental Health Care.

Over 250 referrals are received through YCSC each year, with roughly 70% related to educational and access to services issues. Most referrals also lead to provider consultations. Additionally, unique behavioral health related education and training opportunities are provided to pediatric and behavioral health clinicians throughout Connecticut.

CCA also has two established pediatric care MLPs with Yale New Haven Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. CCA is a statewide agency with offices in Hartford, New Haven, and Bridgeport, and a long history of providing legal advocacy for children in Connecticut. CCA lawyers practice child welfare, juvenile justice, immigration, housing, benefits, education, homelessness, advocacy, and other areas of law that impact children and families throughout the state.