News from the National Center
This is where we share what is happening with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership such as new partnerships and funding, highlight changes in policies that impact medical-legal partnership work, and respond to events in the world.
A New National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership Website for a New Era
This year marks the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership’s (NCMLP) 20th anniversary. Our new website tells the story of what medical-legal partnership can do and how our movement and organization have evolved. And we made it easier to search and access critical resources to do this work, review research about MLP, and connect with opportunities to gather and learn from one another.
National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership Honored with Equal Justice Award from National Legal Aid and Defender Association
The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership was honored today by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) with the 2026 Nan Heald Innovations in Equal Justice Award. The award recognizes creativity and perseverance in advancing equal justice.
AMA Urges Funding to Expand MLPs Across the U.S. to Address the Maternal Health Crisis
The U.S. leads developed countries in maternal mortality rates, disproportionately affecting Black and Native American/Alaska Native individuals. The American Medical Association (AMA) continues to address this crisis, advocating for enhanced medical-legal partnerships in their 2024 recommendations to tackle social determinants of health among pregnant and postpartum individuals.
Kaiser Permanente Expands Partnership with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership to Address Housing Stability
Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest integrated, nonprofit healthcare provider, is expanding its innovative Medical-Legal Partnership Initiative across seven of its regions. The initiative brings critical housing-related legal services to Kaiser Permanente members and communities, helping prevent evictions to increase housing stability — a critical part of good health and health equity.
The Administration for Children and Families awards $1.6 million for Medical-Legal Partnerships Plus Program
The Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today $1.6 million for Medical-Legal Partnerships Plus, a federally-funded demonstration program for medical-legal partnerships. The funding will help eight existing medical-legal partnerships increase their capacity to serve vulnerable families by providing comprehensive legal services and wrap-around social services to families with low incomes to address the root causes of health inequities.
Helping Family Caregivers Through the Lens of a Medical-Legal Partnership
In this guest article, Randye Retkin and Naji’a Tameez, attorneys with LegalHealth, a Division of New York Legal Assistance Group, share how medical-legal partnerships in New York City are helping caregivers care for their loved ones, including elderly parents and adult children with intellectual disabilities. MLPs help caregivers navigate advanced planning, public benefits, housing repairs, and issues with social security.
National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership and Association of Clinicians for the Underserved Launch New Partnership to Increase Access to Justice and Health Equity
The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) and the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership are excited to announce a new partnership which aims to shift the culture of health by helping all ACU members use medical-legal partnership (MLP) to improve health equity, increase access to justice, and strengthen the healthcare workforce.
Congress Introduces the Elder Justice Reauthorization and Modernization Act of 2023, Includes Support for MLPs
On April 19, 2023, the Elder Justice Reauthorization and Modernization Act of 2023 (H.R. 2718/S.1198), which reauthorizes the Elder Justice Act and dedicates new funding to programs that safeguard older adults and adults with disabilities from abuse, isolation, and neglect, was introduced in both chambers. The legislation directly appropriates $4.5 billion for new and existing EJA programs and activities through fiscal year 2027, including $500 million to support linkages to legal services and medical-legal partnerships.
NCMLP’s New Partnership with Kaiser Permanente Aims to Improve Housing Stability, Prevent Homelessness and Advance Health Equity
The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership is working with Kaiser Permanente to connect health systems with legal resources for greater housing stability and eviction prevention.
“Don’t Be Distracted. Don’t Be Discouraged. Keep Fighting the Disease.” A Message from NCMLP’s Co-Director About the Capitol Hill Riots
In a video message, the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership’s Co-Director Bethany Hamilton shares her New Year wishes for the medical-legal partnership field, discusses the Capitol Hill riots on January 6, 2021, and remembers the lives and legacies of the late Dr. Jack Geiger, Co-Founder of the health center movement, and Elizabeth Arledge, Deputy Director of Voices for Civil Justice.
5 Questions with Our New Co-Director, Bethany Hamilton
Get to know our new co-Director Bethany Hamilton in five questions.
Bethany Hamilton Named New Co-Director of the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership
We at the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (NCMLP) are thrilled to announce that Bethany Hamilton, JD has been selected as our new co-Director.
“We are Outraged. And We are Committed.” A Message from NCMLP About Recent Police Brutality
We are outraged and devastated by the murders of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, George Floyd in Minnesota, and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky. Their names join too many others whose beautiful lives were cut short by the plague of systemic racism and white supremacy that allows police brutality like this to occur. Their lives matter deeply. Black lives matter deeply. Action is the only response.
NCMLP Renewed as HRSA-Funded Technical Assistance Partner for Health Centers
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which oversees federal funding for health centers, has renewed the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership’s cooperative agreement as a National Training and Technical Assistance Partner for 2021.
Ellen Lawton Stepping Down as Co-Director of the National Center After 14 Years
It is with enormous gratitude for her leadership and contributions to the medical-legal partnership movement that the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership announces Ellen Lawton is stepping down as its co-Director, effective June 30, 2020.
New NCMLP Grant from Bob Woodruff Foundation will Help Grow MLP Services for Veterans
The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership has received a grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) to grow the movement to integrate legal services as part of comprehensive health care available to Veterans at VA medical centers across the country. BWF leverages its expertise and collaborative network to find, fund, and shape innovative programs that help our impacted Veterans, service members, and their families thrive.
400+ People Gathered in National Harbor, Maryland, for NCMLP’s Whole Person. Whole Team. Whole Communities. Summit.
The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership hosted the Whole Person. Whole Team. Whole Communities. Summit in National Harbor, Maryland. The conference was headlined by Bethany Johnson-Javois, CEO of the St. Louis Integrated Health Network, and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the physician, scientist, and activist who exposed the Flint water crisis. The gathering, the 13th medical-legal partnership summit, explored the ways in which laws and policies affect the physical, emotional, and mental health of individuals, hasten health care crises among the most vulnerable, and preserve health inequities that keep whole communities from thriving.
Annual NCMLP Awards Honor the AAMC, Ayuda Familias & Whole Person Care Los Angeles MLCP
The Association of American Medical Colleges, Ayuda Familias in Texas, and the Whole Person Care LA Medical-Legal Community Partnership were honored with awards from the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership for their work to advance health equity and justice through the integration of health and legal services. Awards were presented at the 2019 MLP Summit, Whole Person. Whole Team. Whole Communities. on September 20, 2019, at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
Bob Woodruff Foundation and NCMLP Convened MLP Meeting About Coordinated Care for Veterans
On May 3, 2019, the Bob Woodruff Foundation convened a day-long meeting to strategize about how to better coordinate care across sectors for our nation’s Veterans. Practitioners from 23 medical-legal partnerships attended. Leadership from the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Health and Human Services as well as advocates working to drive policy impacting Veterans and military-connected families and caregivers were also in attendance.
Medical-Legal Partnership Recognized in North Carolina Medicaid Managed Care Application
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services recently released a request for proposals for Medicaid Managed Care Prepaid Health Plans. It states that in order to meet high-need Members’ unmet resource needs, Prepaid Health Plans are required at a minimum to, “Provide access to medical-legal partnerships for legal issues adversely affecting health, subject to availability and capacity of medical-legal assistance providers.”