Hospital-based Children's Project 

       In this project, lawyers work with doctors and social workers at hospitals as part of a team to improve health outcomes for poor children through the provision of pro bono legal services.  For example, a child under medical treatment for asthma, whose asthma may be triggered by conditions in the family's apartment, will have a lawyer available to secure improvements by the landlord.

       VOLS recruits both hospitals and law firms for the project and provides ongoing project coordination. The project operates at seven hospitals. The project sites and matched law firms are:

• Bellevue Hospital Center (Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison)
• The Children's Hospital at Montefiore (Cravath, Swaine & Moore)
• Harlem Hospital Center (Dewey & LeBoeuf)
• Metropolitan Hospital Center (Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler)
• Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital New York-Presbyterian (Cravath)
• New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill-Cornell Campus (White & Case); and
• New York University Medical Center (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman)

       In 2008, 98 families were served by lawyers in the VOLS hospital-based Children's Project.  143 volunteer lawyers and 34 legal assistants from the participating law firms served poor families in the project.

       At participating hospitals, VOLS staff and volunteer lawyers introduce the Children's Project to the medical staff at Grand Rounds and to social workers at other meetings, and organize legal information sessions at the hospitals on topics such as landlord/tenant issues and immigration.  The goal of these sessions is to assist hospital staff in identifying cases for referral to lawyers and strengthening the advocacy skills of the medical and social work teams.

Here are examples of cases undertaken by volunteer lawyers:

• Lawyers from the law firm matched by VOLS with Harlem Hospital Center provide legal assistance to asthmatic children who have been treated at the hospital by doctors only to return home to apartments with falling plaster, rodents, and insects—conditions all too likely to cause asthma attacks.  The lawyers work with landlords to remedy these conditions.  In case after case reported by the firm, the legal issue is identified as being "substandard housing conditions" and the outcome described as, "conditions remedied"; a lawyer's understated way of saying, "we are making a huge difference in the lives of our clients."
   
• Lawyers from the law firm matched by VOLS with Metropolitan Hospital Center leave their mid-town offices to call upon their clients to see first-hand the apartment conditions lived-in by the families they are representing.  In one case, a landlord was given photographs of housing conditions taken on such a visit, "the worst we have encountered" the lawyers wrote the landlord, along with a demand by the lawyers that the problem be addressed immediately.  The lawyers later met with this landlord at the apartment, along with a roofer, interior workmen and the building superintendent.  As a result, living conditions have vastly improved for this large family with numerous young children, some of whom suffer from asthma.
   
• A nine-month old child who is a United States citizen suffers from severe cancer.  His treatment includes chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery.  Lawyers arranged for his foreign-born mother to remain at his bedside while he undergoes cancer treatment by obtaining a visa extension for her.
   
• A family with three young children - ages five, three and one - were living in a Bronx apartment besieged by bed bugs.  Symptoms included itching and burning brought on by bites, and also rashes.  All three children exhibited symptoms, with those of the one-year old being most severe, causing him to stay awake crying many nights.  The lawyers arranged to find interpreters speaking Mandingo and Fulani - the languages spoken by the parents—and arranged for a fumigation company to come to the apartment.
   
• Volunteer lawyers undertook the representation of a nineteen year-old woman from West Africa who was referred to the law firm by a hospital participating in the project only a day before she was scheduled to appear at her asylum interview.  The client had been subjected to female genital mutilation when she was younger and then had fled to the United States.  The lawyers worked with the hospital to obtain a physician's letter in support of the client's application and then appeared at the Asylum Office to request an adjournment.  The Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture submitted two letters on behalf of the client.  Late last year, the lawyers were able to give their client the wonderful news that she had been granted asylum.  The lawyers will continue to represent the client during her transition as an asylee. With the assistance of her pro bono lawyers, the client now is applying to several New York colleges.

School-based Children's Project

       In this project, VOLS matches law firms with schools to address civil legal problems facing families that threaten to disrupt the education of their children.  As examples of such legal problems, an eviction can lead to a child having to withdraw from school.  This can be a calamity for the child and family.  Or an interruption in public benefits — income support, medical benefits or food stamps — can cause deep distress in the life of a family which will adversely impact on the education of their children.

       The VOLS School Project works at these six schools:

• Public School 146, an elementary school in East Harlem, matched by VOLS with the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson.


• KIPP Academy, a middle school in the Mott Haven/Morrisana section of the Bronx, matched by VOLS with Debevoise & Plimpton.


• The Bushwick Campus, four high schools in Brooklyn on a single campus, matched by VOLS with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
  
• Bronx Lab School, a high school in the Gun Hill Section of the Bronx, matched by VOLS with WilmerHale.
  
• Public School 11, an elementary school in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, matched by VOLS with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel.
  
• Dream Charter School, and elementary school in East Harlem, matched by VOLS with Baker & McKenzie.

       In 2008, 86 families were served by volunteer lawyers in the VOLS school-based Children's Project. 121 lawyers and 28 legal assistants provided services to these families. 

       At the school sites, volunteer lawyers conduct sessions with parents, teachers and school administrators to explain the project and discuss legal issues.  At the Bushwick Campus, high school students also participate in these sessions.

       In selecting sites, VOLS is on the lookout for schools where there will be a strong commitment to the project, and a welcome extended to the lawyers to integrate the project into the fabric of the school,  so that the lawyers become a part of the team working to improve the chances for success for the children.

       Here are examples of cases undertaken by volunteer lawyers:

• Volunteer lawyers represented an uncle who was seeking legal custody of his ten-year old niece who lived with him and attends a public school participating in the project.  The uncle and his wife had raised the niece since she was an infant.  She had suffered extreme neglect while in the care of her parents.  When the child's mother died, the aunt filed for custody of the child.  The court found the child's father to be an unfit parent due to drug use and awarded custody to the aunt.  When the aunt died, the uncle had to file a petition for legal custody of his niece since he had not been named as a legal guardian earlier.  The father, who had not had any contact with the child in nearly ten years, then appeared in opposition.  Over a number of months, the lawyers worked with professionals at the school, with the family, and with the temporary law guardian. The law guardian recommended to the court that it would be in the best interests of the child to award legal custody to the uncle.  In July 2008, the court granted the uncle's petition and entered a final order of custody of the child to her uncle.  The social worker at the school writes of this case:  "The legal help provided to this family has had a profound effect on all areas of the child's life.  Traumatized by the sudden death of her aunt, who had served the role of a mother, mourning was further complicated by the child's real fears regarding her future security and custody.  The lawyers' expertise enabled the uncle to securely move forward with his parenting role.  Once a child with emotional, learning and health issues, she has become self-confident, paying more attention to her health, and has become less withdrawn and more focused on academic success."
   
• The grandmother of a student at a matched school writes: "I was referred to two amazing young attorneys.  More importantly, they both proved to be two amazingly talented people.  Not only did they demonstrate professional excellence in making sure my granddaughter got the financial support she has been entitled to for years, they also demonstrated a tremendous compassion, patience [and] concern….I kept a journal of my journey through the Family Court System.  The tone of my journal transitioned from despair to confidence and assurance that I would gain victory…."
   
• An elementary school participating in the project has a large immigrant population and many children with mental or physical disabilities.  The social worker at the school writes of the project: Families "have come up to me to thank me and update me on the progress they are making in cases the firm has helped with.  This project is such a success!  They are feeling so supported and hopeful…."