Page 11 - Minnesota Vol 8 No 6
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WHAT FAMILIES ARE DEALING WITH OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF OUR HOSPITALS AND CLINICS IMPACTS THEIR HEALTH.”
Children’s social work team is trained to spot legal issues and make timely referrals to the HLP. When the social worker saw the proposed break-lease agreement, she immediately called Dena Birkenkamp, the onsite HLP attorney.
As a sta  attorney for Legal Aid, Birkenkamp works on-site at Children’s hospital campus in Minneapolis up to four days a week, where she receives referrals from social workers, resource navigators, clinicians, care coordinators, and other members of the healthcare team. She also o ces at Legal Aid, where she has easy access to her colleagues with their combined expertise across legal topics.
“Parents have so many worries when their child is hospitalized,” says Birkenkamp. “ e last thing they need is a trip downtown to a lawyer’s o ce.  ey are at the hospital all the time. It’s easy for us to meet there, and we are introduced by caregivers they already trust.  e partnership makes legal services realistically accessible.”
In this case, the social worker coordinated with the healthcare team to obtain the medical documentation for a reasonable accommodation request. Birkenkamp composed the request letter and negotiated with housing management. In the end, management agreed to allow the family to break the lease without a  nancial penalty. Birkenkamp wrote a new break-lease agreement, and management signed.
“What families are dealing with outside the walls of our hospitals and clinics impacts their health,” says Pam Ross, who serves as Director of Community Health Programs at Children’s and provides administrative oversight for the HLP. “ e Healthcare Legal Partnership allows us to actualize a more comprehensive de nition of healthcare to meet the broader needs of patients and families.”
 e Children’s Minnesota HLP operates on both its St. Paul and Minneapolis hospital campuses.  e St. Paul campus is sta ed by an attorney from Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services. During 2018, the two attorneys closed 250 cases addressing multiple legal issues including housing, immigration, public bene ts and family law.
“ e families we see are dealing with so much,” Birkenkamp says. “Some patients have medically complex conditions and are in the hospital for a long time.  e families face multiple barriers to accessing legal advice or help. I really enjoy helping them through this di cult point in their lives.”
MID-MINNESOTA LEGAL AID PROVIDES FREE CIVIL LEGAL ADVICE AND REPRE- SENTATION TO MINNESOTANS WHO CANNOT AFFORD AN ATTORNEY. LEGAL AID SERVES PEOPLE WITH LOW INCOMES IN 20 COUNTIES AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES STATEWIDE.
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