Litigating Health Risks: On Managing Housing and Neighborhood Health Risks through Legal Strategies among Low-Income Families

"Litigating Health Risks: On Managing Housing and Neighborhood Health Risks through Legal Strategies among Low-Income Families," is a qualitative analysis of legal services nested within a larger evaluation of housing and neighborhood context. It explores the potential benefits of legal services as a resource in the prevention and intervention of child and family health risks associated with housing and neighborhood conditions. Her research is based on an18-month ethnography of Dorchester, MA, a Boston inner-city community and 72 in-depth interviews with recipients of legal services and comparable families without access to legal services at local community health centers. Advising Ms. Hernandez in the Law and Social Science Dissertation Fellowship and Mentoring Program are Cornell Professors David Harris, Professor of Sociology, Michael Jones-Correa, Professor of Government, and Professor Gary Evans, environmental and developmental psychologist in Cornell's College of Human Ecology.