Legal Aid of Western Missouri (LAWMO) created the AIDS Legal Assistance Program to provide legal services to individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Initially, LAWMO began providing services to individuals living with HIV/AIDS in the late 80's. LAWMO soon realized that individuals living with HIV/AIDS sometimes would not disclose their HIV/AIDS status during intake and many were screened out who would have otherwise received services. To resolve this problem, LAWMO set up a separate AIDS Legal Hotline where callers could speak directly with an attorney who could answer a caller's legal questions about HIV/AIDS, make referrals or have the caller complete the regular intake process for more in depth legal assistance. After the individual completed the intake process, the attorney assigned to the project either handles the case directly or refers it to another team at LAWMO. To further bolster the effort to reach members of this potential client group, LAWMO received a grant to create a substantive legal handbook for people living with HIV/AIDS. The Legal Handbook for Persons with HIV provides legal information related to public benefits, employment and AIDS, discrimination and AIDS, insurance and estate planning, immigrants and HIV/AIDS, and permanency planning for children. You may access the handbook as a PDF document by clicking on the text below.
Contact Information:
Jane Worley Legal Aid of Western Missouri 1125 Grand Avenue, 19th Floor Kansas City, MO 64106 Phone: (816) 474-6750 Fax: (816) 474-1578 Email
LSC:
America's Partner for Equal Justice 