We have arrived!
SeniorLAW Center’s MLP for LIFE, a Medical-Legal Partnership with Mercy LIFE
SeniorLAW Center is pleased to announce its first Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP), our newest method of bringing legal services to seniors in the communities where they live. SeniorLAW Center is partnering with Mercy LIFE, a “Living Independently for Elders” program of all-inclusive care for the elderly which provides medical and social services – and now legal services — to nursing home-eligible seniors, enabling them to age in their own homes and communities. Since March 2016, SeniorLAW Center’s Skadden Aarps Public Interest Fellow Kristen Valosky, Esq. has been onsite to perform intake and provide free legal assistance to Mercy LIFE participants at their adult day center in South Philadelphia. By collaborating with Mercy LIFE, we will address civil legal needs which may adversely affect the health of vulnerable seniors with a goal of enhancing their quality of life. Medical-legal partnerships embed legal professionals alongside health care teams to detect, address and prevent health-harming social conditions for people and communities. According to The National Center on Medical-Legal Partnerships at George Washington University, 292 MLPS have been established at healthcare institutions in 36 states nationwide. Philadelphia is becoming a national hub of these partnerships.
We are proud to be the first in the nation to serve a LIFE program (known outside of Pennsylvania as PACE Programs) and one of the few nationally serving seniors. Stay tuned for further details and photos!
We are grateful to Skadden Arps and its Public Interest Fellowship Program for making this project possible.
For more information, please contact Kristen Valosky, Esq. at kvalosky@seniorlawcenter.org or 215-701-3218.