4.6 year one outcomes from a community-based medical-legal partnership to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline

Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) integrate legal advocacy and medical care to mitigate factors disproportionately affecting underserved populations. For children with mental health conditions, academic and behavioral issues are common stressors requiring additional supports typically facilitated by individualized education programs (IEPs). Disciplinary action resulting from inadequately addressed emotional and learning issues in school feeds the school-to-prison pipeline. In the first known initiative of its kind, an MLP integrating mental health services with educational legal advocacy onsite within a community mental health clinic provides participants coordinated legal advocacy, neuropsychological testing, and parental support and legal rights orientation.
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research