The Health & Welfare Practice provides critical legal services to Alameda County residents who are at risk of poor health outcomes due to poverty, unsafe living conditions, homelessness, inadequate health care coverage and other destabilizing social conditions. The program provides legal services to clients through the following through the HIV/AIDS Law Project, the Public Benefits & Justice Project, the Medical-Legal Partnership and the Name & Gender Change Workshop. Information on these services is included in the drop down sections below.
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PLEASE NOTE that the Health & Welfare practice is located at 2001 Center St, Berkeley, CA 94704
Am I eligible for these services?
In the HIV/AIDS Law Project, free legal services are provided to individuals who:
- Reside in Alameda County
- Have an HIV diagnosis
- Meet the income requirements listed below (these amounts are 500% of the federal poverty level, as required by the Ryan White HRSA grant that funds this project):
|
1 person household – $72,900 per year |
4 person household – $150,000 per year |
|
2 person household – $98,600 per year |
5 person household – $175,700 per year |
|
3 person household – $124,300 per year |
6 person household – $201,400 per year |
In the Public Benefits & Justice Project (currently closed until further notice) and Medical-Legal Partnership Project, free legal services are provided to individuals who:
- Reside in Alameda County
- Individuals served through our Medical-Legal Partnership Program must be referred to us by our medical partners from UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Highland Hospital Health Desk Advocates and Highland Project DULCE.
- Meet the income requirements listed below:
|
1 person household – $50,000 per year |
4 person household – $71,400 per year |
|
2 person household – $57,150 per year |
5 person household – $77,150 per year |
|
3 person household – $64,300 per year |
6 person household – $82,850 per year |
* The East Bay Community Law Center provides free legal services to eligible East Bay clients. Specific service criteria vary by subject matter and change over time, so please contact the office with any specific questions.
** EBCLC cannot provide legal information or advice via email. Please contact us during regular intake hours to determine eligibility for services.
How do I receive these services?
If you are interested in accessing services through the HIV/AIDS Law Project, please contact EBCLC at (510) 548-4040, extension 386.
(Currently closed until further notice) Public Benefits & Justice Project, please contact EBCLC at (510) 548-4040, extension 377.
Individuals served through our Medical-Legal Partnership Program must be referred to us by our medical partners from UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Highland Hospital Health Desk Advocates and Highland Project DULCE.
HIV/AIDS Law Project
HIV/AIDS Law Project provides legal services including:
- Appeals of denied, terminated or reduced public and disability income benefits, including SSI/SSDI, CAPI, State Disability, General Assistance, CalWORKs, and CalFresh, etc.
- Appeals of denied, terminated or reduced public health care benefits, including Medi-Cal, Medicare and In Home Supportive Services
- Post-entitlement benefits advocacy on issues including overpayments, continuing disability reviews, and payee issues
- Pre-litigation housing matters including eviction prevention, habitability violations, rent increases, subsidized housing appeals, and requests for reasonable accommodation
- Simple wills and advance health care directives
- Brief advice and referrals to other EBCLC advocates or legal resources for additional legal matters, including eviction defense, consumer justice, immigration, and family law.
Public Benefits & Justice Project (Currently closed until further notice)
Public Benefits & Justice Project provides limited-scope assistance with public income and health benefits issues, including:
- Appeals of denied, terminated or reduced public and disability income benefits, including SSI/SSDI, CAPI, State Disability, General Assistance, CalWORKs, and CalFresh, etc.
- Appeals of denied, terminated or reduced public health benefits, including Medi-Cal, Medicare, and In Home Supportive Services
- Post-entitlement benefits advocacy on issues including overpayments, continuing disability reviews and payee issues
If you would like to access the Public Benefits & Justice Project services or if you have any questions, please email publicbenefits@ebclc.org or leave a message at 510-548-4040 ext. 377.
** While closed please contact:
- Bay Area Legal Aid (BALA) Legal Advice Line at 1-800-551-5554, https://baylegal.org/get-help/
- Homeless Action Center (HAC): http://homelessactioncenter.org/ HAC assists clients who are on General Assistance (GA) on all stages of the SSI application process.
- 510-540-0878 – Berkeley Office;
- 510-695-2260 – Oakland Office
Medical-Legal Partnership Project
Individuals served through our Medical-Legal Partnership Program must be referred to us by our medical partners from UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, Highland Hospital Health Desk Advocates and Highland Project DULCE.
Medical-Legal Partnership Project provides legal services including:
- Appeals of denied, terminated or reduced public and disability income benefits, including SSI/SSDI, CAPI, State Disability, General Assistance, CalWORKs, and CalFresh, etc.
- Appeals of denied, terminated or reduced public health care benefits, including Medi-Cal, Medicare and In Home Supportive Services
- Post-entitlement benefits advocacy on issues including overpayments, continuing disability reviews, and payee issues
- Pre-litigation housing matters including eviction prevention, habitability violations, rent increases, subsidized housing appeals, and requests for reasonable accommodation
- Simple wills and advance health care directives
- Brief advice and referrals to other EBCLC advocates or legal resources for additional legal matters, including eviction defense, consumer justice, immigration, family law, etc.
Name & Gender Change Workshop
Name & Gender Change Workshop provides legal assistance including:
- Filling out and filing paperwork for court-ordered name and/or gender marker changes
- Navigating the process to affirm identities on forms of identification, such as driver’s licenses, passports, Social Security cards, USCIS documents, birth certificates etc.
Upcoming workshops:
Due to COVID-19, upcoming workshops will be held remotely, via phone.
*We strongly encourage everyone to email ngcw@berkeley.edu or call 510-560-4213 to sign up for the Name & Gender Change Workshop so that we can have adequate support at the time of the clinic.
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