Florecer: Medical-Legal Partnership (MLP)🩺
Launched in October 2024, Florecer is NJCIC's medical-legal partnership (MLP) with Zufall Health, a federally qualified health center providing access to quality, affordable, and culturally responsive health care to people and communities who experience barriers to care. Florecer is the first MLP in New Jersey to deliver critical immigration legal services, medical care, behavioral health care, and wraparound support to children and youth under one roof, regardless of immigration status. Hosted by Zufall Health's Wellness Center in Morristown, NJ, this hybrid model addresses young immigrants' medical, legal, and interrelated needs by meeting them where they are, in their mother tongue, and with deep regard for their lived experience. It also tackles the root causes of inequity across access to justice and health.
"Empowering children to lead healthy lives and reach greater heights begins with collaboration and optimism across disciplines. Florecer helps medical, behavioral health, and legal practitioners work together for increased and equitable access to critical services." - Douglas S. Bishop, MD, a family medicine physician at Zufall Health's Wellness Center in Morristown
Meaning "to bloom" in Spanish, Florecer brings immigrant children and youth living on the margins, in Morris County, and beyond into a circle of care that frees them from fear and sets the future they want for themselves in motion. NJCIC's Legal Team and Zufall Health's team of health professionals are all within arm's reach, serving as a critical lifeline for young immigrants in need of quality services within and across our allied sectors, allowing our teams to address together significant barriers to young immigrant New Jerseyans achieving good health.
Services include:
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Direct legal representation for Florecer client-patients in applications for asylum, SIJS, immigration court or other humanitarian relief options.
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Providing actionable and language-specific information about rights and available immigration relief.
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Personalized legal advice for young immigrants.
Through this partnership, when an NJCIC attorney identifies that a client has an unmet medical need, experiences a mental health crisis, or needs medical records to support their immigration case, they can quickly work with Zufall staff to make sure those needs are addressed.