From a Case to a Cause: Medical-Legal Partnership at Cincinnati Children's Hospital

This case describes the development and growth of the Cincinnati Child Health-Law Partnership (Child HeLP), a medical-legal partnership founded in 2008 by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati. Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) involve collaboration between healthcare organizations and legal advocates to address the social and structural conditions that shape health, such as eviction, substandard housing, and barriers to public benefits. Child HeLP began by providing individual referrals from pediatric primary care clinics but soon uncovered systemic housing issues that affected dozens of children across entire neighborhoods. Over the next fifteen years, the partnership grew into one of the most established MLPs in the country, serving roughly 800 families annually, achieving high-profile legal victories, reducing hospitalizations for referred children, and expanding into specialty care.

By late 2022, demand had surged to more than 1,000 referrals each year, while funding and staffing remained largely unchanged. Co-founders Dr. Robert Kahn and Elaine Fink faced a strategic crossroads: they had to facilitate Child HeLP’s continued growth, protect staff already stretched thin, and build the infrastructure required to sustain the program long after their direct involvement. The case highlights questions of organizational resilience, growth, and leadership succession in the face of rising demand and constrained resources. The case can be used to help students explore the challenges of building cross-sector partnerships, understand novel interventions addressing social and structural determinants of health, and learn how leaders balance short-term constraints with long-term strategy.