Lawyer Education Program

“Social factors, including housing affordability, quality and stability, socio-economic position, and structural racism are critical determinants of health for children and families. This course will introduce how these factors, collectively referred to as the "social determinants of health" (SDOH), impact individual and population and shape health disparities, equipping lawyers with the tools and information they need when representing children and families.

This three-and-a-half hour interactive course will cover the socio-ecological model of health, constrained choice theory, and population health. The course will also illustrate the connections between the SDOH and explore their importance to legal issues that arise in child welfare and juvenile law cases in Massachusetts. The course will also discuss the terminology and methodology that epidemiologists and other public health researchers use to understand how the SDOH impact health, and discuss how lawyers can raise issues related to the SDOH in child welfare and juvenile law cases.