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Partnerships Between Health Care and Legal Providers in the Veterans Health Administration
Jack Tsai1, Margaret Middleton1, Randye Retkin1
1Dr. Tsai and Dr. Rosenheck are with the Veterans Affairs (VA) New England Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, West Haven, Connecticut, and the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut (e-mail: jack.tsai@yale.edu ). Ms. Middleton and Ms. Johnson are with the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center, West Haven, Connecticut. Ms. Retkin is with the New York Legal Assistance Group, New York City, where Mr. Kenneally was affiliated when this work was done. Mr. Kenneally is currently with the Social Security Administration, Jersey City, New York. Dr. Sherman is with the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System and the Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York City. Debra A. Pinals, M.D., and Marcia Valenstein, M.D., M.S., are editors of this column.
Abstract:
Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) represent an innovative service model in which lawyers are integrated into health care teams to address diverse legal problems that affect vulnerable populations. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) operates the largest safety-net health care system in the country and serves many low-income and disabled veterans who could benefit from MLP services. In this column, the authors describe the development and operations of MLPs at four VHA medical centers that serve veterans who are homeless or who have serious mental illness. The authors also briefly report on the characteristics of 700 veterans served by these MLPs from 2014 to 2016. MLPs can fit within the interdisciplinary, comprehensive system of care provided by VHA, and they offer opportunities to expand VHA-community partnerships to address social determinants of health.
