PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Legal Aid Society provides free legal advice and assistance to low-income families, pregnant women and children with health issues. To see if you are eligible for Legal Aid help, please call (650) 558-0915.

Peninsula Family Advocacy Program (FAP) provides free legal services to families around issues that can impact a child’s health. Pregnant women and low-income families whose children are receiving medical care at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LCPH) or Ravenswood Family Health Center are eligible for help if they live in San Mateo County or Santa Clara County. FAP also partners with the San Mateo Medical Center and its affiliated clinics. Legal Aid helps in the following areas:

• Health insurance and medical bills
• Family law (child custody, divorce, paternity)
• Disability benefits
• Domestic violence
• Guardianship
• Housing
• Public benefits
• Special education and the Individualized Education Program (IEP)

A medical-legal partnership, FAP recognizes that legal problems can interfere with a doctor’s ability to treat a patient’s health. Legal Aid lawyers are on-site weekly at LPCH and Ravenswood, working alongside doctors and nurses and providing legal services in the pediatric primary care clinics. We also train nurses, social workers, and residents to intervene when poverty or other legal factors threaten a child’s health. You can read more about FAP at the program’s website.

FAP also includes the Special Education Pro Bono Project. Legal Aid works with families of children with disabilities to secure special education services with the help of pro bono attorneys. We help families navigate the complex education system, where regulations differ from district to district. For more information, please contact Legal Aid.

Read Angelica’s story to learn how Legal Aid helped her ease her son’s health problems through FAP.