About
Community HeLP is an in-house legal services clinic in which law students engage in interdisciplinary advocacy on behalf of low-income clients with a variety of health-harming legal needs. In recent years the clinic’s docket has focused primarily on legal issues affecting noncitizens, including humanitarian and family-based immigration benefits, advocacy on behalf of immigrant detainees, and public education on issues at the intersection of health and immigration. Students have also regularly engaged in work involving access to food stamps, disability rights, advanced care directives, housing, and other issues affecting legally-underserved communities. Working under the supervision of Associate Professor Jason Cade and the clinic's staff attorney, students have direct responsibility for all aspects of client representation in cases undertaken by the clinic, including: interviewing and advising clients; conducting research and drafting legal documents; advocating in court proceedings and administrative hearings, and collaborating with legal and medical professionals in the community. Clinic students periodically develop or update training materials for medical providers, legal advocates, and patients, and engage in related systemic policy work. The clinic has downtown office (located very close to campus).
The two-semester clinic is structured so that students receive significant supervision, training, and guidance in the first semester, enabling more independent, advanced, and systemic work in the second semester. The weekly seminar component of the clinic provides skills training and substantive instruction in the clinic’s primary practice areas. The seminar also includes clinical “case rounds” designed to develop reflective advocacy, collaborative problem solving, and a framework for skills-transfer across issue areas.
Course Information & Requirements
This is a year-long (two semester) clinic, awarded 4 credits each semester. There is orientation session at the beginning of the Fall semester. Students will be expected to spend an average of at least 12 hours per week on clinic-related work (including the seminar). In addition to attending the weekly two-hour seminar, students are required to schedule five hours per week for regular office hours in the clinic’s office downtown (located very close to campus). Other work on behalf of the clinic’s clients can often be done on the student's own time, including weekends or evenings, if preferred. Occasionally, though very infrequently, the clinic’s cases require travel to Atlanta for administrative proceedings.
There are no prerequisites. However, students with prior experience or course work in health care or health law, immigration law, family law, employment law, housing law, trial advocacy, evidence, disability law, benefits law, criminal law, or other poverty law courses are encouraged to apply, as are students with foreign language skills. Rising 2Ls and 3Ls are permitted to apply.
How to Apply
Students must submit a written application, using the Unified Application Form prior to enrolling in the Community HeLP Clinic. Please answer all questions on the application. After the applications are screened, students may be interviewed. Before registration, students will be either invited to enroll in the Community HeLP Clinic or notified that they have been placed on a waiting list. The Community HeLP Clinic can enroll up to eight students per semester. The clinic is available in the spring and fall semesters to (rising) 2L and 3L students.
In the News
Cade publishes article in the Indiana Law Journal - Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Experiential Learning & Hosch Associate Professor Jason A. Cade published “‘Water is Life!’ (and Speech!): Death, Dissent, and Democracy in the Borderlands” in 96 Indiana Law Journal 261 (2020).
Community HeLP and First Amendment clinics featured in Law360 - Monday, January 4, 2021
The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic's Jason A. Cade and Kristen E. Shepherd and the First Amendment Clinic's Clare R. Norins were featured in Law360 regarding their representation of women who allegedly endured abusive gynecological and other medical treatments while in the custody of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The class action complaint asserts that the women suffered retaliation, including expedited deportation, for speaking up about the medical abuse. The article titled "Detained Migrants In Ga. Launch Medical Abuse Class Action" was written by Jennifer Doherty and published 12/23/20.
Community HeLP clinic obtains release of client from immigration detention on health grounds - Thursday, December 24, 2020
The Community Health Law Partnership clinic recently obtained release of a client from an immigration detention center in Georgia pursuant to the district court's order in Fraihat v. ICE, which requires new assessments and release determinations for individuals at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 while in custody. Third-year student Raneem Ashrawi helped prepare the request along with clinic Staff Attorney Kristen E. Shepherd and clinic Director Jason A. Cade.
School of Law featured in Common Dreams article regarding Community HeLP and First Amendment clinics serving as co-counsel on behalf of immigrant women alleging medical abuse - Wednesday, December 23, 2020
The School of Law was mentioned in a Common Dreams article regarding the work of the Community Health Law Partnership Clinic and the First Amendment Clinic. The clinics are serving as co-counsel in a putative class action filed December 21, 2020, on behalf of women who allegedly endured medical abuse and retaliation for speaking out about it while in the custody of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The article titled "Class-Action Suit Sought Over 'Disturbing Pattern of Inhumane Medical Abuse' of ICE Detainees Including Forced Hysterectomies" was written by Andrea Germanos and published 12/22/20.
Community HeLP and First Amendment clinics successful with motion to help detained women - Wednesday, December 2, 2020
The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic and the First Amendment Clinic joined forces to assist women who allegedly endured abusive gynecological and other medical treatments, as well as inhumane conditions and retaliation, while in the custody of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Georgia. Third-year student Anish Patel helped with the preparation of a motion addressing immigration and free speech issues that the U.S. District Court for Middle District of Georgia granted in its entirety. Specifically, the motion allows the women to submit their statements to the court under seal and using Jane Doe pseudonyms in order to protect the women against further retaliation for speaking out. The clinics also co-represent one of the detained women individually and are pursuing remedies for her release in multiple state and federal forums.
Cade presents as part of Indiana Law Journal series - Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Experiential Learning & Hosch Associate Professor Jason A. Cade presented “‘Water is Life!’ (and Speech!): Death, Dissent, and Democracy in the Borderlands” as part of the Indiana Law Journal Author Talks Series at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law during November.
Community HeLP Clinic helps client secure immigration status and work authorization - Friday, November 13, 2020
The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic obtained legal immigration status and work authorization for a client pursuant to the Violence Against Women Act in late October. The case will now proceed to adjudication of the client's application for permanent residence. Working under the supervision of Clinic Director Jason A. Cade, clinic students involved with this case included second-year student Paige Medley and recent law school 2020 graduates Andrea G. Aldana, Stroud F. Baker and William D. Ortiz in addition to 2019 alumnus Roger C. Grantham Jr.
Cade publishes article in Studies in Law, Politics, and Society - Monday, September 14, 2020
Associate Dean for Clinical Programs and Experiential Learning & Hosch Associate Professor Jason A. Cade published "All the Border’s a Stage: Humanitarian Aid as Expressive Dissent" in 84 Studies in Law, Politics, and Society: Law and the Citizen 109 (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2020) (A. Sarat, ed).
Community HeLP Clinic presents community webinar on COVID-related SNAP and P-EBT benefits - Friday, September 11, 2020
The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic virtually presented "An Update for Advocates and Communities on COVID-related SNAP and P-EBT Benefits" that covered changes to the SNAP (food stamps) Program and the P-EBT (school lunch) Program for families with school-aged children as well as how to challenge decisions. The August webinar had over 60 attendees, representing 50 organizations across Georgia. Associate Dean Jason A. Cade, who directs the Community HeLP Clinic, served as moderator of the event that featured Georgia Division of Family and Children Services Director Tom C. Rawlings (J.D.’92), Georgia Legal Services Program Supervising Attorney Bonnie Miller (J.D.’98) and GLSP Public Benefits Specialist Marta Shelton. Rising third-year student Ansley S. Whiten helped organize the webinar and prepare the materials.
Community HeLP Clinic presents on the future of DACA - Wednesday, August 12, 2020
The Community Health Law Partnership presented "The Future of DACA," a webinar in Spanish about recent legal developments concerning the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and the benefits and risks of applying. The event featured immigration attorneys Jessica M. Daman (J.D.’10) and Hannah MacNorlin, and was moderated by Community HeLP Clinic Staff Attorney Kristen Shepherd. Rising second-year law students Paige Medley and Izaan M. Rizwan helped organize the webinar and prepare the materials under the supervision of Associate Dean & Clinic Director Jason A. Cade. The webinar was viewed over 1,000 times in less than 48 hours.
Cade receives grant to address impact of COVID-19 on immigrants - Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Hosch Associate Professor and Community Health Law Partnership Clinic Director Jason A. Cade received a Flom Incubator Grant from the Skadden Foundation to address the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for immigrant families and other uniquely vulnerable communities in Athens and surrounding rural areas. Cade and a coalition of partners will use the $10,000 grant to rapidly develop and launch a novel model for engaging in remote screening, advice and advocacy aimed at addressing the most pressing civil legal needs for immigrant and other low-income individuals and families. If successful, the project design could be expanded and replicated to effectively provide remote services for various hard-to-reach communities in Georgia and elsewhere, both during and beyond the current pandemic, according to Cade.
Community HeLP Clinic assists with understanding public charge ground of inadmissibility - Wednesday, April 15, 2020
The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic recently conducted a live online workshop exploring recent changes to the public charge ground of inadmissibility and what it means for low-income noncitizens seeking legal status in the United States, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Third-year law student Andrea G. Aldana, second-year law student James C. Berrigan and clinic Director Jason A. Cade presented and fielded questions from more than 40 UGA School of Social Work students and faculty as well as local community social workers. Hosted by the School of Social Work, the workshop was moderated by Assistant Professor Jane McPherson, who is the director of the school's Global Engagement Program.
Community HeLP Clinic secures visas for victims of serious crime - Friday, March 20, 2020
The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic recently helped two clients secure their U Visas, which grant victims of serious crime - who are helpful to law enforcement in investigation or prosecution - with four years of lawful status and a path to permanent residency in the United States.
Current Community HeLP Clinic students James C. Berrigan and Lisa C. Garcia marshaled the evidence needed to achieve this successful outcome for both clients. Former clinic students and 2018 law school graduates Michael D. Aune, Caroline A. Jozefczyk, Clayton C. McClain and Christopher D. “Chris” Johnson assisted with earlier stages of the case.
The successful effort on behalf of these clients was made in conjunction with bilingual therapists from UGA’s College of Education working at the Mercy Health Clinic, where the Community HeLP Clinic operates a medical-legal partnership addressing social determinants of health.
Community HeLP Clinic helps crime survivors with visas - Tuesday, February 4, 2020
The Community Health Law Partnership Clinic recently helped two clients with their preliminary approval for U Visas, which provide a path to lawful status for noncitizens who are the victims of serious crime and are helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution.
According to Jason A. Cade, the clinic’s director and holder of a Hosch Associate Professorship, when the statutory backlog is cleared the clients will have full U status. “In the meantime, they can now reside and work lawfully in the United States,” he said.
Current Community HeLP Clinic students James C. Berrigan and Lisa C. Garcia marshaled the evidence needed to achieve this successful outcome for both clients. Former clinic students and 2018 law school graduates Michael D. Aune, Caroline A. Jozefczyk, Clayton C. McClain and Christopher D. “Chris” Johnson assisted with earlier stages of the case.
The successful effort on behalf of these clients was made in conjunction with bilingual therapists from UGA’s College of Education working at the Mercy Health Clinic, where the Community HeLP Clinic operates a medical-legal partnership addressing social determinants of health.
Cade publishes article in the Georgia Law Review Online - Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Hosch Associate Professor Jason Cade published "Teaching Tomorrow's Lawyers Through a (Semi-) Generalist, (Mostly-) Individual Client Poverty Law Clinic: Reflections on Five Years of the Community Health Law Partnership" in 53 Georgia Law Review Online 143 (2019).
Community HeLP Clinic assists clients in obtaining citizenship - Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Congratulations to the Community Health Law Partnership (HeLP) Clinic for assisting two clients from Egypt with their citizenship cases. Third-year student Sarah A. Mirza and Onur Yildirim (J.D.'18) helped prepare the initial applications last year. Third-year student Amy E. Buice and second-year student William D. Ortiz worked to prepare the pair for their naturalization interviews and attended the naturalization ceremony in 2019. The cases were supervised by clinic Director and Associate Professor Jason A. Cade.
Cade presents on enforcement policies at the southern border - Friday, March 1, 2019
Associate Professor Jason A. Cade presented on the consequences of enforcement policies at the southern border for asylum-seekers and other migrants at the 2019 Emory International Law Review Symposium titled "Continued Relevance and Challenges of the 1951 Refugee Convention on Global, Regional, and Local Levels" during February.
Cade publishes article in Northwestern University Law Review Online - Monday, February 18, 2019
Associate Professor Jason A. Cade published "Restoring the Statutory Safety-Valve for Immigrant Crime Victims: Premium Processing for Interim U Visa Benefits" in 113 Northwestern University Law Review Online 120 (2019) (with Mary Honeychurch, a 2018 graduate of the School of Law).
Cade publishes article in Washington and Lee Law Review - Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Associate Professor Jason A. Cade published "Judicial Review of Disproportionate (or Retaliatory) Deportation" in 75 Washington and Lee Law Review 1427 (2018).
Cade publishes article in Northwestern University Law Review - Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Associate Professor Jason A. Cade published "Sanctuaries as Equitable Delegation in an Era of Mass Immigration Enforcement" in 113 Northwestern University Law Review 433 (2018).
Cade presents at Fordham University School of Law - Monday, November 19, 2018
Associate Professor Jason A. Cade presented "Sanctuaries as Equitable Delegation in an Era of Mass Immigration Enforcement" at the 2018 Cooper Walsh Colloquium titled "Remodeling Sanctuary: Urban Immigration in a New Era" held at Fordham University School of Law during November.
Cade, Flanagan publish article in Richmond Public Interest Law Review - Monday, April 2, 2018
Associate Professor Jason A. Cade and Meghan L. Flanagan have published "Five Steps to a Better U: Improving the Crime-fighting Visa" in 21 Richmond Public Interest Law Review 85 (2018). Flanagan (J.D.'17) is a current fellow in the Wilbanks Child Endangerment and Sexual Exploitation Clinic.
Community HeLP Clinic secures ruling to benefit disabled persons accessing DFCS programs - Wednesday, January 24, 2018
The law school’s Community Health Law Partnership Clinic recently achieved a significant administrative legal victory that could have far-reaching implications beyond their initial client who experiences a disability.
In the December 2017 ruling, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture stated that the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services did not provide reasonable accommodations – required under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act – for the clinic’s disabled client when applying for aid through the SNAP (food stamps) program. The USDA has given DFCS three months to implement system-wide procedures for tracking requests for reasonable accommodations, resolving grievances and ensuring that all front-line agency staff receives civil rights training including ADA/504 compliance.
Associate Professor Jason A. Cade, who directs the clinic, says this resolution will benefit many persons with disabilities throughout the state of Georgia. “Due to the ruling, it is anticipated that DFCS will be implementing a range of procedures and policies to bring them into compliance with federal law, which will ultimately make things easier for those with disabilities seeking to access DFCS administered programs. The Community HeLP Clinic often represents persons with disabilities and greatly welcomes this action,” he said.
Law students involved in achieving this momentous, multi-year victory for the clinic’s client were: 2017 graduates R. Larkin Taylor-Parker and Alessandra P. Cunha, third-year students Christopher D. “Chris” Johnson and Clayton C. McClain, and second-year students Gabriel Justus and Slaton Wheeler. The Community HeLP Clinic’s mission is to address the social determinants of health for indigent individuals by tackling a range of legal needs that impact patients, including immigration, disability rights and benefits.The clinic provides a first-rate learning opportunity for law students by giving them responsibility for handling all aspects of their clients’ cases, under Cade’s supervision.
Cohen and Cade named recipients of UGA Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants - Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Congratulations to Wilner/UGA Foundation Professor in International Law Harlan G. Cohen and Assistant Professor Jason A. Cade. Both were part of UGA interdisciplinary teams that received research awards through the Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program. Only 12 faculty teams were selected out of more than 150 that submitted proposals.
Cohen’s project is titled “Forecasting the threat of cyber attacks, nation by nation,” and his team includes faculty members from UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Public and International Affairs as well as a political scientist from the State University of New York.
Cade will collaborate on a project titled “Building a network of cultural liaisons to improve the health and well-being of Athens-area Latinos” with faculty from the College of Education, the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, the College of Pharmacy, the College of Public Health, the School of Social Work, the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute and the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development.
The review team selected winning proposals based on demonstrated potential to address key grand challenges and to generate new external funding in the future. Inclusion of public service and outreach components also was considered, among other criteria.
School of Law faculty member looks for legal solutions to health issues - February 27, 2017
When Jason Cade was offered the opportunity to start the Community Health Law Partnership (Community HeLP) Clinic at UGA in 2013, he jumped at the chance. The clinic, which seeks to address health-harming legal needs of low-income individuals, provides a much-needed service in the Athens area.
“The whole idea behind this clinic is that both short- and long-term health outcomes can be related to legal problems,” Cade said. “Our goal is to reduce chaos in a family’s life, to bring stability and to maximize their income potential or their support. These are things that can make a really big difference in a family’s health especially when you are talking about very low-income persons.”
Cade and the law students, who gain client and work experience through the Community HeLP Clinic, primarily work with professionals at Mercy Health Center, which provides medical care and other support for low-income and uninsured people in Athens and the surrounding areas.
As an illustration, Cade offered the situation where a person has access to asthma medication but lives in a house with severe mold issues, noting the medication will not alleviate the source of the asthma.
“There is often a social circumstance that is connected to a person’s health, and sometimes those social circumstances have a legal solution,” Cade said.”Those are the kinds of cases we work on.”
Community HeLP Clinic wins top prize in Combatting Senior Hunger in Georgia – Creative Solution Awards - Thursday, December 15, 2016
Students in the Community Health Law Partnership Clinic, directed by Assistant Professor Jason A. Cade, recently won first place and $500 in a contest sponsored by UGA’s College of Public Health Institute of Gerontology. The effort sought to recognize creative solutions to combat senior hunger in Georgia.
The Community HeLP Clinic’s winning entry focused on the implementation of a single streamlined process to assist older adults at senior housing communities with applying for Medicare, food stamps and an underused deduction for out-of-pocket medical expenses, which is intended to help persons receiving food stamps who are disabled or at least 60 years old.
To develop the idea, the clinic partnered with Georgia Cares, the Athens Community Council on Aging and local attorney Nancy Lindbloom from the Georgia Legal Services Program. Clinic students successfully piloted the program with Kristi Bates, a Medicare specialist with Georgia Cares, at a senior housing residence in Athens.
The law students involved in various aspects of developing, implementing or writing up the project were: second-year students John E. Farmer Jr., Mary S. Honeychurch, Christopher D. “Chris” Johnson, Clayton C. McClain and Laney J. Riley; and third-year students Pedro Dorado, Alessandro F. Raimondo and Ashley A. Rudolph.
The award committee called the Community HeLP Clinic’s proposal “brilliant,” and committee members praised the clinic’s guidance and recommendations for best practices and implementation statewide.
Focus On Faculty Profiles: Jason Cade - April 2, 2017
Students in assistant professor Jason Cade’s Community Health Law Partnership clinic gain practical experience providing legal services to low-income patients at community health centers.
What are your favorite courses and why?
I teach two courses and love them both. One is an intensive two-semester clinic called the “Community Health Law Partnership” (also known as “Community HeLP”). Working under my supervision (I’m a licensed attorney in Georgia), each year eight law students in the clinic provide a variety of civil legal services to low-income patients at local community health centers serving Athens and surrounding counties. The students gain deep experience with real-life lawyering in this course, representing individuals in all aspects of their cases. Many of our clients are facing crisis situations and all of them are in poverty. Every semester the cases are different, which means I have to be very flexible in keeping the curriculum relevant. I structure the clinic so that students continually practice and reflect on skills and experiences, learning collaboratively from each other’s challenges as well as their successes. The students gain tools in the process that I think translate to almost any kind of legal work. Just as importantly, they tend to end up embracing the core value that all clients deserve outstanding representation—including, and perhaps especially, those who cannot afford to hire an attorney.
Teaching the doctrinal immigration law course is very rewarding, too. That subject matter aligns with my primary research areas, and I love having discussions with students about how well the goals underlying the immigration system align with the on-the-ground realities of immigration law and procedure.
What interests you about your field?
Although the Community HeLP clinic engages in many aspects of poverty law, my primary area of research and practice has been immigration law. As a scholar, I try to make sense of the roles and responsibilities of the many officials who implement the sprawling, rigid immigration code and to think about the complexities of how we use immigration law to define our national community. I’m particularly interested in examining how our legal institutions operate for noncitizens who encounter the criminal justice system or who lack a path to lawful status under current law.
As a still-practicing lawyer, many things interest me about immigration law. You have to be very creative and you have to be a good storyteller in this field. The work typically involves figuring out solutions to complex problems and helping clients effectively communicate their stories in ways that are accurate, compelling and legally significant. Also, when you have success in an immigration case, frequently you’ve achieved life-changing results for your client, which is very gratifying.
Community HeLP Clinic offers assistance to Athens Housing Authority residents - Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Georgia Law’s Community Health Law Partnership, led by Assistant Professor Jason A. Cade, took on a substantial advocacy project during November to benefit residents of Athens Housing Authority in addition to its current work with patients at Mercy Health Center.
State law changed on Oct. 1, allowing households with elderly or disabled members to qualify for additional SNAP (food stamps) benefits based on unreimbursed medical expenses. Second-year student Christina A. Cason and third-year student Andrew B. McClintock led a presentation on the newly changed law to residents of AHA, and shortly after, the entire clinic screened AHA residents who expressed food insecurity at the presentation. As a result, the clinic has accepted 10 residents as new clients and provided advice to numerous others regarding their eligibility for food stamps and the medical expense deduction. Cason and McClintock, with assistance from other clinic students, also developed a standard form to help applicants and advocates calculate qualifying expenses. The form has been shared with the Georgia Legal Services Project in hopes that it can be used to assist qualifying individuals throughout the state.
The clinic plans to continue its presentations and screenings on this issue in 2016.
Community HeLP Clinic caps successful year with win - Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Congratulations to Georgia Law’s Community Health Law Partnership for finishing its first year with a win in a contested SNAP (food stamps) case. During the spring semester, third-year students Ricardo A. “Richie” Lopez and Carrie A. Moss advocated on the behalf of a disabled clinic client and achieved an almost $200 monthly increase in benefits.
Lopez and Moss also uncovered multiple agency errors leading to significant underpayments dating back almost one year. Three days after graduating from Georgia Law, Lopez returned to the clinic to represent the client in an administrative hearing, during which the agency relented on all issues and agreed to reimburse the client for back benefits totaling almost $1,600.
Directed by Assistant Professor Jason A. Cade, the Community HeLP Clinic provides an innovative approach in addressing the social determinants of health for indigent individuals. Law students partner with health care professionals to tackle a variety of legal needs that affect patients. Over the course of the 2014-15 academic year, students in the clinic assisted approximately 40 low-income persons in the Athens area in overcoming a range of health-harming legal needs, including issues relating to food stamps, disability benefits, and immigration.