July 25, 2023

Community Legal Aid Awarded Honorable Mention for Supporting the Safety Net Award

BY Corrine Ryan/cryan@cla-ma.orgCommunity Legal Aid

Community Legal Aid, a non-profit organization that provides free civil legal services to low-income and elderly residents of Central and Western Massachusetts, has received an Honorable Mention for the Supporting the Safety Net Award given by the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP). The award honors a community-based organization or individual whose work goes the extra mile and is recognized as a best practice that can be replicated in the safety net environment. The Honorable Mention recognizes the outstanding work of Community Legal Aid’s Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP) in Hampden County with Commonwealth Care Alliance.

The Commonwealth Care Alliance MLP launched in early 2022 as an innovative collaboration between the medical and legal communities to address the health-harming legal needs of individuals and families. Through this partnership, Community Legal Aid’s staff attorney trains medical staff to spot situations where a patient’s health may be improved by legal intervention. The attorney holds virtual office hours every week for consultations with Commonwealth Care Alliance staff and patients, accepts direct referrals, and provides legal assistance to patients to resolve their legal issues.

In the MLP’s first year, more than 140 patients with legal problems were referred to Community Legal Aid by Commonwealth Care Alliance staff. The primary area of legal need in Commonwealth Care Alliance’s patient population relates to housing, including eviction, poor conditions, utilities, or accommodations for disabilities. The MLP also helps people with issues related to guardianship, including healthcare proxies and durable power of attorneys, and public benefits, such as disability, unemployment, or SNAP (food stamps).

In its nomination of the MLP, Commonwealth Care Alliance President and Chief Executive Officer Christopher Palmieri stated, “Our members praised the MLP as the safety net they needed during a time of great stress and difficulty.…[S]imply having the support of the MLP attorney greatly reduced their stress and helped them feel supported. Having direct access facilitated by trusted [medical] providers through our MLP has made a world of difference.”

In making this award, ACAP noted that “all the members of the selection committee were very impressed by and complimentary of the innovative work being done by Community Legal Aid.”
With funding from public and private sources, Community Legal Aid has been able to expand its MLPs in the past year. In addition to the MLP with Commonwealth Care Alliance, Community Legal Aid has launched new MLPs with the Community Health Center of Franklin County, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Worcester, and Community Healthlink, a branch of UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester. Community Legal Aid has operated MLPs with UMass Memorial Health Care since 2015 and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds since 2018. Earlier this year, Community Legal Aid’s subsidiary organization, Central West Justice Center, launched an MLP with the Baystate Brightwood Health Center to assist farmworkers in Western Massachusetts Valley experiencing health harming legal issues.
Community Legal Aid’s Medical-Legal Partnerships receive funding from: Albert W. Rice Charitable Foundation (Bank of America, N.A., Trustee), Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, Commonwealth Care Alliance, Greenfield Savings Bank, UMass Memorial Health Care, and United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region.

About Community Legal Aid:
Community Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to the low-income and elderly residents of the five counties of Western and Central Massachusetts (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester), and maintains offices in Worcester, Fitchburg, Springfield, Northampton, and Pittsfield. Community Legal Aid works to assure fairness for all in the justice system, protecting homes, livelihoods, health, and families. For more information, please visit www.communitylegal.org.

About Commonwealth Care Alliance:
Commonwealth Care Alliance (CCA) is a mission-driven healthcare services organization that offers high-quality health plans and care delivery programs designed for individuals with significant needs. Serving more than 100,000 individuals across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Michigan, and California, CCA delivers comprehensive, integrated, and person-centered care by coordinating the services of local staff, provider partners, and community organizations. CCA has been recognized as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” by the 2023 Disability Equality Index®, the world’s most comprehensive benchmarking tool for companies to measure disability workplace inclusion. In addition, The Boston Globe recognized CCA as a Top Place to Work for 2022. Learn more at www.commonwealthcarealliance.org.