NCT04924088

Brief Summary

The legal team in medical-legal partnerships works with healthcare providers to improve their clients' lives. It is unknown whether this approach is better than providing usual legal services, with no special emphasis on non-legal matters and no particular collaboration with healthcare providers. The investigators propose to randomly assign 300 Veterans with housing-related legal problems to either legal help from a medical-legal partnership or help from lawyers in the community. The investigators will follow the randomized Veterans in this study for one year to determine if there is a difference between the two groups of Veterans in their housing situations and their mental health. The investigators will also interview Veterans in both groups about their experience of the legal services they have received.

Trial Health

75
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
85

participants targeted

Target at P50-P75 for not_applicable

Timeline
6mo left

Started Feb 2022

Longer than P75 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
active not recruiting

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

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Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Progress90%
Feb 2022Oct 2026

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

June 4, 2021

Completed
7 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

June 11, 2021

Completed
8 months until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

February 1, 2022

Completed
4.1 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

March 1, 2026

Completed
8 months until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

October 30, 2026

Expected
Last Updated

November 26, 2025

Status Verified

November 1, 2025

Enrollment Period

4.1 years

First QC Date

June 4, 2021

Last Update Submit

November 20, 2025

Conditions

Keywords

legal servicesmental health servicesveteransmedical-legal partnership

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Housing questionnaire change

    80 percent days in own place or 45-day increase in own place from baseline

    Past 90 days. Collected at baseline, 3, 6, 12 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

  • BASIS-R

    Past week. Collected at baseline, 3,6, 12 months

  • The Yale Citizenship Scale

    Present moment. Collected at baseline, 3, 6, 12 months

Study Arms (2)

Medical-legal partnership

EXPERIMENTAL

Treatment group will receive the MLP intervention through the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) in partnership with the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. The MLP intervention can be categorized into seven activity components: initial in-person and subsequent in-person interviews; discussions with clients by phone; research and review of relevant documents; consultations with clinicians or other attorneys; interactions with opposing parties; time appearing at formal hearings; and travel time.

Behavioral: Medical-legal partnership

Referral to pro-bono lawyer

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Control group will receive outside legal aid, i.e., control participants will be referred to pro-bono lawyers in the state.

Behavioral: Referral to pro-bono lawyer

Interventions

Treatment group will receive the MLP intervention through the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center (CVLC) in partnership with the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. The MLP intervention can be categorized into seven activity components: initial in-person and subsequent in-person interviews; discussions with clients by phone; research and review of relevant documents; consultations with clinicians or other attorneys; interactions with opposing parties; time appearing at formal hearings; and travel time.

Medical-legal partnership

Control group will receive outside legal aid, i.e., control participants will be referred to pro-bono lawyers in the state.

Referral to pro-bono lawyer

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years+
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Annual non-VA income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level
  • Has a legal problem related to housing (e.g., eviction, rent arrears, housing violation)
  • Engaged in a VA mental health or homeless program
  • Able to provide informed consent
  • Match income level CVLC uses for service eligibility
  • Participants will be recruited from zip codes in which the team and CVLC will be recruiting from

You may not qualify if:

  • Has been assigned a conservator of person
  • Will not be able to complete follow-up assessments (e.g., moving away)
  • Already receiving civil legal aid from Connecticut Veterans Legal Program

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

VA Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven Campus, West Haven, CT

West Haven, Connecticut, 06516-2770, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal SatisfactionBehavior

Study Officials

  • Marc I. Rosen, MD

    VA Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven Campus, West Haven, CT

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
NONE
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Model Details: Randomized controlled trial comparing an intervention to treatment-as-usual
Sponsor Type
FED
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

June 4, 2021

First Posted

June 11, 2021

Study Start

February 1, 2022

Primary Completion

March 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 30, 2026

Last Updated

November 26, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will share

A de-identified, anonymized dataset will be created and shared.

Shared Documents
STUDY PROTOCOL
Time Frame
One year after study completion
Access Criteria
Upon completion of a data sharing agreement with the PI.

Locations