Medical-Legal Partnerships have been established in 294 health care institutions in 41 states which serve as healthcare delivery models that integrate legal assistance as a vital component of patient care. Through the MLPC, doctors and lawyers work together to identify legal and social issues which negatively impact child health and well-being and address these issues through individual and systemic advocacy.

Pediatricians recognize that the health of their young patients is affected by social and environmental conditions that cannot be addressed through medical care alone. The MLPC allows medical providers to address the underlying causes of medical conditions, such as lack of access to healthy food, a moldy apartment, the lack of special education services, and poverty, through advocacy and access to legal services. The MLPC trains medical providers to identify legal and social issues that may impact health and well being and teaches providers advocacy strategies. The MLPC also provides a wide range of legal services to pediatric patients and their families to address individual and systemic barriers to health and well-being.

The Toledo MLPC is a collaboration among ProMedica Toledo Children’s Hospital, Mercy Children’s Hospital, Rocket Pediatrics/UT Health, and two law firms serving low-income clients: Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE), and Legal Aid of Western Ohio, Inc. (LAWO).