Community - Faculty - Kate Mitchell Profile
Clinical Professor of Law Kate Mitchell directs Loyola’s Health Justice Project.
Faculty Profile Kate Mitchell
Holistic approach
Kate Mitchell leads the community-changing Health Justice Project
Through Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s Health Justice Project (HJP), led by clinical professor of law Kate Mitchell, students learn by doing and, in turn, make a real impact in their community.
The project’s clinic consists of small cohorts that work intensively through classroom components and collaborating across disciplines to practice poverty law at the intersection of health and health justice. “Our priorities are access to health care and public benefits, access to healthy stable housing, and disability advocacy,” says Mitchell. “We might support an employee who needs accommodations at work or is struggling to get approval for FMLA leave. We’ll support folks facing eviction or living in substandard housing. We might support someone with a disability getting accommodations for housing, modifications to the home, or permission to have a support animal.”
The HJP utilizes a medical-legal partnership (MLP) model, offering students the opportunity to collaborate with partners at Loyola Medicine and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, training health care workers on identifying legal needs adjacent to the social and structural determinants of health. Health care providers refer patients to the HJP clinic, where, after screening, students evaluate what type of assistance will best serve them.
“Our priorities are access to health care and public benefits, access to healthy stable housing, and disability advocacy.”
All of the clinic’s clients live in poverty. The HJP uses a holistic services approach to support clients with a range of social and legal supports available to help improve their well-being. “We teach students to be culturally sensitive and trauma-informed,” Mitchell says. “Our students see how they’re able to build trust with clients who have been let down by a lot of systems and to empower them to enforce their rights.”
Many of Mitchell’s students tell her how much they value seeing the intersection between health, poverty, and the law. “They see how community assets and resources—or lack thereof—impact clients’ health and well-being,” she says. She takes students on tours to observe how the changing neighborhood resources and investment reflect in life expectancies in Chicagoland, which can drop by 10 years simply by crossing from River Forest to Maywood, where many HJP clients reside. HJP alumni have pursued work in public interest, working at Legal Aid Chicago, on policy fellowships at Harvard Law School, in public defender and prosecutor’s offices, or taking on pro bono work while working in firms.
The HJP clinic students serve 30 to 40 clients per year, and in its first three years, the HJP clinic’s Maywood MLP provided legal support to over 161 clients. The work can be profoundly challenging and take an emotional toll; not long ago, one of the clinic’s clients passed away, which Mitchell says was very hard on the students. So, Mitchell also teaches students how to take care of themselves. “We talk a lot about self-care in the clinic. We about boundaries, getting support when the work gets hard or emotional.” (Mitchell says she finds respite in time with her family, her rescue dogs, and yoga.)
In addition to the clinic, Mitchell conducts research, co-leads the Community Equity Response Collaborative, Loyola—a consortium of faculty and students from law, public health, nursing, medicine, dietetics, and social work—and directs the Curt and Linda Rodin Center for Social Justice, where she plans annual symposiums with Rodin Center students and faculty on topics like homelessness and the migrant crisis. “My work with the Rodin Center allows me to work with more students who are passionate about public interests and social justice,” she says. “I love to get to work with these incredible students and see what they can accomplish.” –Claire Zulkey (January 2025)
On Friday, April 4, Loyola University Chicago School of Law will host the Curt and Linda Rodin Annual Symposium, The Legal Landscape of Homelessness: Rights, Remedies, and Restoring Dignity. The public is invited to attend. Learn more and register for the event.
Through Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s Health Justice Project (HJP), led by clinical professor of law Kate Mitchell, students learn by doing and, in turn, make a real impact in their community.
The project’s clinic consists of small cohorts that work intensively through classroom components and collaborating across disciplines to practice poverty law at the intersection of health and health justice. “Our priorities are access to health care and public benefits, access to healthy stable housing, and disability advocacy,” says Mitchell. “We might support an employee who needs accommodations at work or is struggling to get approval for FMLA leave. We’ll support folks facing eviction or living in substandard housing. We might support someone with a disability getting accommodations for housing, modifications to the home, or permission to have a support animal.”
The HJP utilizes a medical-legal partnership (MLP) model, offering students the opportunity to collaborate with partners at Loyola Medicine and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, training health care workers on identifying legal needs adjacent to the social and structural determinants of health. Health care providers refer patients to the HJP clinic, where, after screening, students evaluate what type of assistance will best serve them.
All of the clinic’s clients live in poverty. The HJP uses a holistic services approach to support clients with a range of social and legal supports available to help improve their well-being. “We teach students to be culturally sensitive and trauma-informed,” Mitchell says. “Our students see how they’re able to build trust with clients who have been let down by a lot of systems and to empower them to enforce their rights.”
Many of Mitchell’s students tell her how much they value seeing the intersection between health, poverty, and the law. “They see how community assets and resources—or lack thereof—impact clients’ health and well-being,” she says. She takes students on tours to observe how the changing neighborhood resources and investment reflect in life expectancies in Chicagoland, which can drop by 10 years simply by crossing from River Forest to Maywood, where many HJP clients reside. HJP alumni have pursued work in public interest, working at Legal Aid Chicago, on policy fellowships at Harvard Law School, in public defender and prosecutor’s offices, or taking on pro bono work while working in firms.
The HJP clinic students serve 30 to 40 clients per year, and in its first three years, the HJP clinic’s Maywood MLP provided legal support to over 161 clients. The work can be profoundly challenging and take an emotional toll; not long ago, one of the clinic’s clients passed away, which Mitchell says was very hard on the students. So, Mitchell also teaches students how to take care of themselves. “We talk a lot about self-care in the clinic. We about boundaries, getting support when the work gets hard or emotional.” (Mitchell says she finds respite in time with her family, her rescue dogs, and yoga.)
In addition to the clinic, Mitchell conducts research, co-leads the Community Equity Response Collaborative, Loyola—a consortium of faculty and students from law, public health, nursing, medicine, dietetics, and social work—and directs the Curt and Linda Rodin Center for Social Justice, where she plans annual symposiums with Rodin Center students and faculty on topics like homelessness and the migrant crisis. “My work with the Rodin Center allows me to work with more students who are passionate about public interests and social justice,” she says. “I love to get to work with these incredible students and see what they can accomplish.” –Claire Zulkey (January 2025)
On Friday, April 4, Loyola University Chicago School of Law will host the Curt and Linda Rodin Annual Symposium, The Legal Landscape of Homelessness: Rights, Remedies, and Restoring Dignity. The public is invited to attend. Learn more and register for the event.