HIV/AIDS Clinic

The HIV/AIDS Clinic is proud to report recent victories for two of our clients who are Social Security disability claimants. Working under the supervision of Prof. Joyce Batipps, Shannon Ford, '03, successfully argued in her brief and in oral arguments at a Social Security hearing that our client's (who is a young child) disability benefits were wrongly terminated. The child suffers from a rare metabolic disorder and a life-threatening chronic disease. Her doctors at Children's Hospital believe that she may be the only child worldwide with both disorders. Social Security took the position that the child had medically improved and, therefore, was no longer eligible for benefits. Ms. Ford was convincing in her argument, showing that it was only with the extraordinary care exercised by the child's father, a single parent, and his careful balancing of his daughter's very strict dietary needs, that the child was kept in stable health. Ms. Ford argued that the child continued to suffer from a disabling condition. Congratulations on a job well done!

Congratulations also go to Paralegal Jacqueline Craig of the HIV/AIDS Clinic. Ms. Craig marshaled a client's case quickly through the Social Security disability process and won benefits for a client suffering from HIV/AIDS. The client, who is unable to work due to her illness, now has some financial assistance and medical coverage to help her cope with the disease.

Two students worked as legal interns last summer in the HIV/AIDS Clinic -- Noel Balsamo and Regina Bias. Both students appeared in D.C. Superior Court several times during the summer, successfully pleading custody cases for their clients. Noel helped one grandmother obtain joint custody of her grandchild after the mother died. The father consented to sharing custody with the grandmother after the arrangement was explained to him by Noel and the judge. Regina also helped a client who was caring for two children to obtain custody following the death of the parents. Although many of these cases are consent or default cases, the students have to go through the process of searching for missing non-custodial parents, posting notices, and finally filing a default motion before the case is heard.

Standby Guardianship Now Law in D.C.

The HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic and the Family Ties Project (Consortium for Child Welfare) have played a major role in the drafting and passage of the Standby Guardianship Act of 2002, which was signed by D.C.'s Mayor in April and approved by Congress in June. Professor Natalie Wasserman will be involved in training lawyers, social workers, and case managers to use the new law, which allows parents to plan for the future care of their children if they become too sick to care for them. Professor Wasserman spoke to a group of case managers at a brown bag on August 21, at which she explained the law and the process of designating a standby guardian. She also presented training on the law and its implementation to the Family Court judges on September 10, along with Judith Larsen, ABA's expert on Standby Guardianship, and Jeffrey Menzer, Director, Family Ties Project.