The Health Practice at East Bay Community Law Center currently includes three medical-legal partnership projects that provide holistic legal services to children, adults, and families in Alameda County. The overall goal of the Health Practice is to improve health outcomes for vulnerable individuals by addressing the underlying social causes of poor health, including poverty, homelessness, minimal access to health care, inadequate education, and lack of legal status.

The HIV/AIDS Law Project was created in 1989 to address the complex needs of low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Project attorneys work closely with a number of local HIV/AIDS medical clinics to improve client access to life-saving medical care. In 2006, the Health Practice formed the East Bay Medical-Legal Partnership (EBMLP) in collaboration with Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland (CHRCO), the largest pediatric critical care facility in the region. EBMLP lawyers and medical providers work together to meet the varied legal needs of low-income CHRCO patients and their families. In 2010 the Health Practice launched the Elev8 Legal Services Project, which provides free legal services on-site at five Oakland middle schools. In collaboration with other school-based services, including medical and mental health care providers, Elev8 attorneys and law students provide legal services aimed at promoting the education, health, and empowerment of middle school students and their families.

Health Practice advocates provide holistic legal services and advocacy in the following areas with some variability by project: public benefits, housing, health care access, immigration, special education, and school discipline. Health Practice attorneys also train health care providers, educators, and community members on the laws and programs that safeguard client health and welfare, work to develop and influence policy around health issues, and advocate for systemic change. As a clinic of Berkeley School of Law, EBCLC’s Health Practice integrates law student training at all levels of its advocacy.

Information about all EBCLC Practice Groups