Healthy Children, Healthy Communities, and Legal Services
The Center for Law in the Public Interest has published an article to help legal service providers improve human health and the quality of life for traditionally underserved communities through equal access to schools, parks, and green spaces. The article Healthy Children, Healthy Communities, and Legal Services, published in a special issue on Environmental Justice for Children in the Journal of Poverty Law and Policy by the National Center on Poverty Law and the Clearinghouse Review (May-June 2005), provides recommendations to incorporate human health, urban equity, and sustainable regional planning into legal services advocacy.
Low income communities in urban areas are disproportionately denied the benefits of safe open spaces for physical activity in parks and schools and disproportionately suffer from diseases related to obesity and inactivity. Through advocacy and public education campaigns, legal services providers can help communities achieve equal access to schools, parks, and green spaces for healthy children and healthy communities.
