Montana Health Justice Partnership MLP+ Project
The Montana Health Justice Partnership is a collaboration between the Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA), the Montana Primary Care Association (MPCS), seven federally qualified health centers (FQHC), Providence St. Patrick Hospital, and 10 referral social service organizations. This project will support these long-standing medical-legal partnerships to provide comprehensive legal services and wraparound social services for low-income, vulnerable, and exploited patients and their families, and add two urban Indian Health Organizations as new sites for these services. Grant funds will provide a match to help MLSA secure a $214,000 federal grant to participate in the Medical Legal Partnerships Plus (MLP+) demonstration program. MLSA will use the funding and the $25,000 matching grant from MHCF to hire a new 1.0 FTE Intake Navigator focused on strengthening partnerships and cross-referrals with social service provider partners, allocating 0.35 FTE attorney time for increased capacity to provide legal services, adding the Montana Consortium for Urban Indian Health and two urban Indian health organizations as partners, and tracking improved health, legal, and social data for clients, their children, and their families, especially those experiencing challenges with housing stability, income support, family stability, civil rights, immigration, and environmental health. Grant funds will support a portion of the project manager's salary, travel and meeting expenses, project supplies, communications, and marketing. The primary partner for this expanded planning project is the Montana Consortium for Urban Indian Health and their five member urban Indian health organizations.