Slip in the name of asthma

The Help Schools Become Better Equipped to Handle Asthma Emergencies (HB6333) is now in the Illinois Senate and scheduled to be heard in the Elementary & Secondary Education: School Curriculum…

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Give him liberty

The Young Lawyers Section (YLS) of the Chicago Bar Association names our very own Justin Hayford its “2016 Liberty Bell Award Winner.” This annual award honors a non-lawyer each year who works in the legal system on behalf of the most disadvantaged.

For twenty-five years Justin has been a case manager and paralegal at AIDS Legal Council (now a program of Legal Council for Health Justice). During his quarter century of service, Justin has tirelessly advocated on behalf of low-income people with HIV who have nowhere else to turn for legal assistance. He has has directly impacted the lives of thousands of clients, trained countless groups of service providers and legal professionals in HIV law, testified before legislative bodies, and taken on various state and local bureaucracies on behalf of his clients.

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Client Focus: Hatim

Hatim, an HIV-positive man with limited English skills, first came to AIDS Legal Council after he sustained a devastating injury at his job as a butcher, and was unable to…

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May Ball 2016 press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2016 For more information, contact Kevin Mork at 312-605-1976 or kjmork@legalcouncil.org. Legal Council for Health Justice Celebrates Spring in Style with Second-Annual May Ball on…

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Got lead?

While we welcome the ‘John Oliver effect’ that shines a much-needed light on the issue of childhood lead poisoning, what’s repeatedly left unsaid in this and other highly-respected top-tier media outlets is the power and the value of Early Intervention (E.I.) for infants and toddlers exposed to toxic levels of lead. Below is an unpublished letter sent to The New York Times co-authored by the director of our Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children program, Amy Zimmerman, and Anita Weinberg, clinical professor, Loyola University Chicago School of Law and Chair, Lead Safe Illinois which highlights the importance of this federally-mandated program:

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No place like home

home child drawing

Yesterday, federal district court Judge Charles P. Kocoras issued a court order requiring HFS [Illinois’ Medicaid agency] to “take immediate and affirmative steps to provide the very in-home shift nursing services that HFS approved.”

More than 1200 children have been approved for in-home nursing services based on their high level of medical need. Many of these children are dependent on complex medical regimens for routine bodily functions, such as eating, drinking, breathing, and oxygen regulation. Yet, the State failed to arrange for in-home nursing, resulting in unnecessary and costly institutionalization, heightened risk of medical complications, and diminished quality of life.

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OB v Norwood Court Order Press Release

April 6, 2016 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Jill Wohl, 773-562-0159, jill@legalcouncil.org Jane Perkins, 919-968-6308, perkins@healthlaw.org Robert H. Farley, Jr. 630-369-0103, farleylaw@aol.com Federal Judge Orders State of Illinois to Provide Community-based…

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Client Focus: Shaneea

A young mother with a 4-month-old baby, Shaneea had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and marijuana abuse when her treating psychiatrist at an outreach partner, Fantus Clinic, referred her to the…

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