A study released by the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children (MLPC) at Boston Medical Center (BMC), partially funded by MLAC, was featured on the April 10 edition of Marketplace.

The study - which surveyed parents of children seen in the Pediatric Emergency Department at BMC about the problems affecting their families’ health and well-being - shows that low-income families are not turning to lawyers for help in addressing their unmet basic needs, even though these problems often have legal remedies. 

The report shows that these same unmet basic needs may adversely impact health and well-being.  While these families were untouched by legal services, their contact with the health care delivery system suggests that health care providers are strategically positioned to act as a link between low-income families and the legal help that could possibly prevent crises of hunger and homelessness.

Click here to listen to the Marketplace segment or obtain a transcript.