By Angeline Spain, Angela (Sander) Garza, Julie McCrae, et al., Chapin Hall, October 2020
Health care systems are increasingly recognizing the value of legal expertise as a tool for addressing some of the social and material needs that can impact healthy child development and family well-being. Medical–legal partnerships, a model for integrating legal services and expertise into healthcare settings, have expanded rapidly in the past decade. These partnerships can amplify the ability of healthcare systems to address families’ social needs and mitigate contributors to toxic stress. This study examines the multisite implementation of the preventive legal partnership component of Developmental Understanding and Legal Collaboration for Everyone (DULCE). This approach embeds holistic problem solving with legal support into preventive health care for young children.
This brief is part of Chapin Hall’s evaluation of innovations designed to promote screening for contributors to toxic stress during pediatric well-child visits and connect families to early childhood and community service providers.
What We Did
We interviewed legal partners, health care, and early childhood staff implementing DULCE in seven pediatric clinics across five communities in California, Florida, and Vermont. Through 60 interviews over two time points encompassing initial implementation and adaption over time, we explored adaptations to clinic and community context, barriers to family participation, and lessons learned about integrating legal expertise into preventive pediatric health care.
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