The Architecture of Medical-Legal Partnerships
Every Friday I help provide legal aid to veterans struggling with mental illness, homelessness,and poverty. The Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) in West Haven, where I volunteer, shares a large partitioned space with a VA outpatient clinic. The medical-legal partnership between CVLC and VA embodies an integrated model of care: veterans will heal faster and remain healthier if their legal issues are quickly resolved and lawyers and clinicians can coordinate effectively.This therapeutic role for law does not resonate in the popular imagination.
