The Rhode Island Family Advocacy Program (RIFAP) is a legal, medical, and academic collaborative project that delivers legal services in a health care setting to low-income Rhode Island families to improve health outcomes for children. Modeled off of the Family Advocacy Program in Boston, the RIFAP is a partnership of the Brown Medical School, Hasbro Children's Hospital, Rhode Island Kids Count, Rhode Island Legal Services, and the Roger Williams University School of Law. The RIFAP focuses on issues that impact a child's health and can be remedied or improved through representation on issues such as lead poisoning, asthma, and domestic violence. This holistic approach builds on the fact that doctors can identify health care problems experienced by children and make appropriate referrals to RIFAP as they are often the first point of contact with a potential client and the client's family. RIFAP staff train doctors to ask clients screening questions to identify if the client could benefit from legal services enabling the doctor to make appropriate referrals to a RIFAP affiliated attorney. Rhode Island Legal Services dedicates one staff attorney to the RIFAP who circuit rides between Hasbro Children's Hospital and various Community Health Centers in Providence, Rhode Island.
The RIFAP trains practicing doctors and lawyers in handling referrals and ensuring clients access appropriate services. This program also launched an educational component which encourages students to participate in medical and legal collaborative projects. Roger Williams Law School and Brown Medical School began to offer a joint class to medical and law students on legal and medical collaborative efforts which provides students with an opportunity to improve health outcomes for low-income people. To learn more about this program, visit the Rhode Island Family Advocacy Program's website at: http://www.rifap.org.
Contact Information:
Michael Burch Program Director Rhode Island Family Advocacy Program PO Box 2571 Providence, RI 02906 Phone: (401) 595-7594 MikeBurch@rifap.org
LSC:
America's Partner for Equal Justice 