Editor’s note: The federal government withdrew grant funding for this research in 2025.

A new partnership providing free legal services to low-income families, focusing on medical-legal issues such as housing stability, income support and family law launched between the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa ’s (MLPC) and .

MLPC pairs legal professionals with health care providers to tackle issues affecting patients’ overall health and well-being. This model involves offering on-site legal services at Kapiʻolani Medical Center, educating health care professionals on legal matters and engaging in policy advocacy to create systemic change.

“Our MLPC collaboration works because we co-locate ‘legal care’ and ‘health care’ in trusted health care settings,” said Dina Shek, legal director of MLPC. “This means our lawyers might be able to meet with families right in their exam rooms during appointments. By partnering with the communities we serve, we have effectively addressed policy and systemic advocacy issues like restoring Medicaid benefits for Micronesians and advocating for language access and immigrant rights in Hawaiʻi.”

The MLPC program site at Kapiʻolani Medical Center was funded by the (DOH) through a grant to address health disparities and advance health equity. This partnership builds on the MLPC‘s long-standing relationship with .

Extending its reach

The partnership allows the MLPC team to extend its reach, offering support to families with hospitalized children who may face legal challenges affecting their health and well-being. In one case, MLPC expedited a stalled reasonable accommodation request in public housing that had prevented a safe discharge for a hospitalized child. The MLPC attorney’s work made it possible for the housing changes to happen more quickly, which shortened the hospital stay, resulting in significant cost savings and more stable housing for the family.

“This partnership with the ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ Richardson School of Law has been a game changer for me and the entire social work department,” said Waynell Hee-Goodman, manager of medical social services at Kapiʻolani Medical Center. “The legal guidance gives us more confidence in our ability to help patients address issues like food insecurity and transportation to clinical care.”

“Community partnerships in both education and patient care are timeless and have progressively improved the health and well-being of Hawaiʻi’s people over many generations,” said Kenneth Nakamura, chief of pediatrics at Kapiʻolani Medical Center. “This is part of Hawaiʻi Pacific Health’s mission to create healthier communities—not just for some, but for all our people.”

Since its founding in 2009, MLPC has served nearly 2,000 families. The program’s innovative approach, which integrates legal services into healthcare settings, has empowered families to navigate complex systems more easily. Being embedded into healthcare sites allows MLPC to work with health care providers to ensure that social and economic factors do not impede medical care.

“When we think about how our health care systems are or should be designed, our partnership with Kapiʻolani provides an ideal model in many ways. We’re working together to integrate different areas of expertise to help address not just an immediate medical need, but also the health-harming social needs all at once,” said Ashley Kaono, staff attorney for MLPC. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this amazing alliance, and look forward to all the good work ahead.”

As the program moves forward, additional funding from state and federal grants will help sustain and expand its efforts. Key supporters include Kapiʻolani Medical Center, KKV, Hawaiʻi Justice Foundation, Hawaiʻi State Judiciary, DOH and ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ.

Almost four people die from suicide every week in Hawaiʻi, making suicide the second-leading cause of fatal injuries for Hawaiʻi, residents. The University of Hawaiʻi, at Mānoa and Hawaiʻi they are teaming up with other public and private sector partners to reduce the number of suicides, particularly in groups with higher rates.

The goal is to reach the groups disproportionately affected by suicide and suicide attempts, such as men, rural communities, minorities and essential workers, including farmers and first responders.

The Culturally Based Community Connections for Resilience (CCCR) project, funded by the Department of Health and Human Services–Office of Minority Health aims to create a network among Hawaiʻi,’s essential workers to reduce suicide and suicide risks by bolstering social connectedness and relationship building.

“It may seem suicide is a lone event—it is not,” said ¶«¾«Ó°Òµ Mānoa Professor Thao Le in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, and principal investigator for CCCR. “A major reason though is feeling alone. We need a course correction and can only do this when we create conditions for connections, internally and externally, across all levels and all sectors.”

1,051 lives lost

A total of 1,051 residents died from suicide from 2019 to 2023. More than 76% of individuals in Hawaiʻi who died by suicide were men. Men ages 20 to 59 years old had the highest risk for suicide death. Females ages 15 to 19 years old had the highest risk for suicide attempt.

“Suicide can be preventable, but effective suicide prevention needs partners across the state from different sectors and disciplines to care, connect and collaborate,” said Renee Yu, suicide prevention coordinator for HDOH Emergency Medical Services and Injury Prevention System Branch. “CCCR and initiatives like CCCR brought to our state by our amazing suicide prevention partners are saving lives and families.”

Resources

If you are struggling, resources are available. Help is just a call, text or chat away.

• is a free crisis, mental health and substance use call center. Call or text 988 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• The provides help for poisoning emergencies. Call 1-800-222-1222. Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Visit the for local resources.