4.10.2006 ET

(CSRwire) BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2006--Boston Medical Center
(BMC) Pediatrics Chief Dr. Barry S. Zuckerman announced today the creation of The Medical Legal Partnership for Children (MLPC), signaling a fundamental change in the delivery of healthcare for vulnerable children and their families nationwide.

"We have seen that lawyers and healthcare professionals working together can often prevent illness and can give sick kids a better shot at recovery because they can address the full continuum of children's needs, including housing, food, education, health care and a safe, stable environment," said Dr. Zuckerman. "With the creation of MLPC, we now have the capacity to spread the knowledge and practices developed over the last 13 years here at Boston Medical Center to sites nationwide"

Thanks to substantial financial support totaling $2.7 million from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and others, MLPC is now in a position to offer medical and legal professionals at local sites nationwide access to expertise developed at BMC through technical training, website resources, and conferences.

Local partnerships nationwide may apply for seed money to leverage funds they have raised themselves. (For information on how established local partnerships may apply for MLPC grants, log on at www.MLPforChildren.org). The goal is to replicate Boston's program in every state of the nation, starting with the 30 sites that have already been identified.

MLPC is the ambitious outgrowth of - and in effect, replaces -- the Family Advocacy Program (FAP), which was developed in 1993 at Boston Medical Center by Dr. Zuckerman and others, and has been led for years by Dr. Zuckerman, Ellen Lawton, JD, Legal Director, and Lauren Smith, MD, MPH, Medical Director. Since its founding, FAP has both successfully introduced "preventive law" into the clinical setting to help pediatricians prevent and treat illness, such as asthma, injuries, malnutrition, and other problems affecting child health - and has supported the replication of medical-legal collaborations in over 30 other regions of the country through technical assistance and training.

This unusual partnership of law with medicine results from the recognition that child health cannot be effectively improved by relying only on medical interventions. Indeed, it is well recognized
that:

-- Child health has both biological and social origins.

-- Pediatricians are critical sources of preventive intervention for families, but they are not traditionally prepared to address social determinants of child health.

-- Lawyers are in the best position to help families understand the legal remedies available to them to ensure their children have their basic needs met to improve their health.

Based on a model of healthcare delivery developed by FAP, MLPC involves three core activities:

-- Direct Service, i.e., providing legal services to low-income children and their families in the clinical setting where pediatricians are viewed with credibility and trust.

-- Training and Education, i.e., training for front-line healthcare professionals - pediatricians, nurses, social workers -- in how to identify non-biological sources of ill health in their patients and in how to access the legal advocacy resources that can help to address patients' broader needs.

-- Systemic Advocacy, i.e., working to influence all levels of governmental systems, programs and policies that have an impact on the health of vulnerable children and their
families. MLPC aims to bring about change at the local, state and national level to improve child health.

"This is a far cry from traditional pediatric healthcare and it's long overdue on a national scale," said American Academy of Pediatrics President Eileen M. Ouellette, MD, JD, FAAP. "Finally, we can apply what healthcare workers have known for years - that doctors need lawyers to keep kids healthy. Lawyers have the tools and techniques to make the difference."

Boston Medical Center has received broad support from the Boston legal community, both through financial assistance and active professional participation. FAP has benefited from significant pro bono help from eight Boston law firms, the Boston Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association and from local law school interns. Local law firm partners include Day, Berry & Howard; Holland & Knight; Mintz, Levin; Foley Hoag; McDermott Will & Emery; Brown Rudnick; DLA Piper Rudnick, and Goodwin Procter.

Commenting on the creation of MLPC and its implications for legal services and the legal profession generally, American Bar Association President Michael S. Greco said, "Medical-legal partnerships present an important opportunity for lawyers and doctors to work together to help children and families protect their health. I will encourage members of the Bar to provide necessary legal services to children and families through this very promising program."

The Medical Legal Partnership for Children (MLPC) is a national program, founded by and directed from Boston Medical Center to promote the health and wellbeing of low-income children and families by confronting the non-biologic factors that influence health. MLPC draws on lawyers and their legal advocacy skills to address children's basic needs for food, housing, education, health care and safety/stability thus creating home environments that support long term health improvement. For more information about MLPC, log on at < ahref="http://www.MLPforChildren.org">www.MLPforChildren.org.


Copyright Business Wire 2006

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