CHILDREN & EDUCATION
School stability and success open critical doors to a meaningful future. When children have the opportunity to attend school and make academic progress, they are healthier, more likely to secure employment and income, and avoid homelessness and incarceration as adults. Through individual client representation, development of key collaborations and partnerships such as the ones detailed below, and advocacy for systemic changes, the Legal Aid Society helps children succeed in school.
Guardian ad Litem (GAL)
When a child is removed from home due to abuse, neglect or dependency, the child protection system provides for the appointment of an attorney/guardian ad litem (GAL) to represent the best interests of that child to the Juvenile Court. In Butler County, Legal Aid advocates serve as GAL for hundreds of children each year to promote safety and stability in their lives.
Child HeLP
Child HeLP, a partnership between Legal Aid and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, promotes improved health and well-being through legal advocacy. The on-site presence of lawyers and paralegals in the Pediatric Primary Care Center in Avondale encourages doctors there and in the Fairfield and Hopple Street clinics to refer patient families for consultation or assistance with legal problems involving housing conditions, evictions, eligibility for public benefits, school discipline, special education services, domestic violence and custody issues.
M-HeLP
Crises of housing, income, and safety can prevent low-income pregnant women from prioritizing their prenatal care. M-HeLP, the new Maternal Health Law Partnership between Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati, TriHealth, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center will assist pregnant women receiving prenatal care at the Faculty Medical Center at Good Samaritan Hospital to resolve major social stressors that often negatively impact pregnancy outcomes.
The M-HeLP team will assist at-risk pregnant women obtain safe housing, protection from domestic abuse, or access to food, income and medical benefits in order to improve attention to prenatal care and achieve a successful pregnancy.
A “smart handoff” to the Pediatric Primary Care Clinic (PPC) at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for systemic, proactive access to follow up support, is also part of M-HeLP.
M-HeLP is made possible by a multi-year grant from Bethesda, Inc., a major funder of health care transformation and co-sponsor of TriHealth.