March

2016

Bringing Legal and Health Leaders Together in Orange County

*PLC is currently recruiting for a staff attorney position in our
Health Law Unit*

What do kids living in substandard housing and homeless veterans have in common? In America, they are amongst the estimated 50 million Americans who need some sort of legal care to be healthy. Here in Orange County, they have another common denominator - a coordinated service delivery and advocacy model featuring institutions like the Public Law Center (PLC), CHOC Children's (CHOC), and The California Endowment.

PLC's health law unit operates through a Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) model, partnering with healthcare centers, funders, and the private bar to improve social determinants of health for Orange County's low-income individuals and families. By providing legal services addressing those social determinants of health, PLC is able to help low-income clients achieve better health outcomes for themselves and their families. In addition, through funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under a contract with the Orange County Health Care Agency, PLC provides services to and advocates on behalf of the HIV/AIDS positive community to improve access to public benefits, healthcare, and provide end of life planning probate services.


Marina Pantchenko Staff Attorney

Staff attorney Marina Pantchenko, intake specialist Jazmina Castillo, and legal fellow Solange Rousset are currently building upon PLC's 20-year history of providing civil legal aid within the health care context. Marina first launched her public interest career with an Equal Justice Works fellowship hosted by Bay Area Legal Aid and sponsored by Morgan Lewis & Bockius and Hewlett Packard. At PLC, Marina's experience in improving health access for refugee families and children through direct client representation, litigation and policy advocacy aligns perfectly with the Health Law Unit's goal of increasing access to quality health care for Orange County's most vulnerable residents.


Jazmina Castillo Administrative Assistant/Intake Specialist

Jazmina is a PLC veteran in both the MLPs and the AIDS Legal Assistance Project (ALAP). Prior to joining PLC, Jazmina worked as a bookkeeper at Women Organizing Resources Knowledge and Services in Los Angeles, a Research Assistant/Interviewer at UCLA's HIV/AIDS Survey Research Center, and a Childcare Coordinator and Social Advocate at Los Angeles' House of Ruth Shelter for Homeless Women and Children. Solange is a 2015 graduate of UCI Law School and former PLC volunteer. She rejoined the health law unit in January as an UCI Fellow. The PLC Health Law Unit is currently recruiting for a staff attorney to join Marina, Jazmina and Solange in this important work.

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PLC Builds Healthy Community in Santa Ana with
The California Endowment

Dr. Robert K. Ross, President and CEO of The California Endowment, congratulates PLC on it's 35th Anniversary

When people think of health, they often think of doctor's offices and vitamins, not power and place. The truth is, health happens in community, school, and the places people spend their time. And as our long-standing partnership with the Public Law Center proves, health happens in courthouses, attorney-client discussions, and throughout the legal system.

The current day differences in health outcomes between different neighborhoods did not evolve by chance or by the choice of the residents. Recognizing this, Building Healthy Communities is a 10 year, $1 billion comprehensive community initiative launched by The California Endowment in 2010 to advance statewide policy, change the narrative, and transform 14 of California's communities most devastated by health inequities into places where all people have an opportunity to thrive.

Santa Ana is one of the 14 communities we believe can experience transformational and sustained change through changing the rules so that everyone is valued and has access to the resources and opportunities essential for health. PLC, with its decades of dedication to access to justice in Santa Ana and throughout Orange County, was a natural partner in our resident-focused work.

Since 2011, PLC had been a vital partner in our Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities cohort. PLC trained over 250 staff members of community-based organizations, educated over 3,000 Santa Ana residents on how to access linguistically and culturally competent legal services, and ensured the assistance and representation of nearly 1,500 residents in addressing their underlying legal barriers to health. In addition, The California Endowment partnered again with PLC when it stepped up to co-create and lead the Orange County Naturalization Initiative Collaborative, which not only has helped over 3,000 applicants in the naturalization process, but also provided a platform by which these community members accessed health information, health insurance, and health care.

On the occasion of PLC's 35th Anniversary, I join the Endowment Staff, past and present, who have worked with PLC to make California and Orange County a healthier place for all, to congratulate PLC for a job well done. We look forward to growing and sustaining our partnership and continuing to uplift and transform communities one resident at a time.