Memphis Children's Health Law Directive, otherwise known as Memphis CHILD, is a unique collaboration of lawyers, social workers and physicians to address the legal and social needs in our community that are impacting the health of Le Bonheur patients. Memphis CHILD is the first medical-legal partnership of its kind in the region and is considered one of the most robust medical-legal partnerships in the country.
Created in 2015, Memphis CHILD is a partnership between Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Memphis Area Legal Services and The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. The program is made up of attorneys, a social worker, law students and professors, a medical champion physician, medical students and resident physicians. Team members meet weekly to review and assign cases.
While most medical-legal partnerships focus on one or two case categories, Memphis CHILD covers a wide variety of cases, each affecting the health of a patient and family of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.
Case examples include:
- Representing families with Children's Supplementary Security Income (SSI) appeals and applications
- Granting conservatorships, guardianships, powers of attorney, custody orders
- Connecting families to social services (emergency shelter, utilities, food, clothes, state and federal benefits, etc.)
- Advocating for special education services for children with disabilities in school
- Representing tenants in ensuring poverty management companies provide safe, quality housing; eviction support
The University of Memphis leg of the partnership is led by Law School Professor and Medical Legal Partnership Clinic Director Katy Ramsey, Esq. The clinic can accommodate up to 15 law students per semester with an opportunity to work on cases under her direct supervision. This partnership greatly enhances the number of families that can be served by Memphis CHILD. Law clinic students assigned to Memphis CHILD also round with physician resident teams at various times throughout the semester, thereby increasing their exposure to Le Bonheur patients and families.
Pediatric residents at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center also have the opportunity to participate in an elective taught by Memphis CHILD Medical Champion Emilee Dobish. Residents participate in various community outreach, educational and legal service activities throughout the elective.
Each year, Memphis CHILD provides more than half a million dollars in free legal services to Le Bonheur families. Because Memphis CHILD attorneys are currently only licensed in the state of Tennessee, all clients are expected to be Tennessee residents, the exception being families with federal issues like SSI. Patients and guardians may inquire about eligibility with a member of their Le Bonheur Children's Hospital care team.
Memphis CHILD is primarily funded by grants and donors, including Memphis' Urban Child Institute.
