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Development Office
Family Advocacy Program
In 1993, the Pediatrics Department at Boston Medical Center created its own team of lawyers to advocate on behalf of poor
children with serious medical conditions and/or disabilities. The Family Advocacy Program (FAP) at BMC is comprised of
three attorneys and several legal interns, who represent families challenged by quality of life issues such as safe and
affordable housing, nutrition and income supports, and domestic violence issues. Many families served by BMC are either
current or former welfare recipients who need assistance navigating a complicated maze of regulations, which are
particularly daunting for those families dealing with chronically ill or disabled children. For seven years, FAP has
advocated for more than 1,000 families at BMC and its affiliated health centers. Of this number, 350 were low-income
children with disabilities or complicated illnesses. Almost half of these children had asthma or mental health problems.
The remainder suffered from developmental delays, learning disabilities, or a broad range of medical problems. Support
for these children includes advocating for appropriate special education placements, assisting with Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) applications and appeals, addressing housing conditions, and assuring public housing transfers
or placement. FAP attorneys not only provide direct service to patients, but also train health care staff and work on
policy issues such as expanding access to health care for children. By providing backup consultation to BMC’s
frontline physicians, nurses, and social workers, FAP has created a valuable dialogue between legal and medical
professionals that has led not only to optimum care for disadvantaged families, youth and children, but has also
greatly influenced FAP’s efforts to reduce systemic barriers to child health care in Massachusetts.
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