A few years ago, the Memphis-based Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic represented a mother whose teenage son was seriously wounded in a drive-by shooting. He had been shot inside their home, and though he survived, bullet holes remained on a wall, serving as a constant reminder of the pain he felt.
Every time his mother saw the holes, she would relive the trauma of her son being shot. Yet she couldn’t convince the landlord to fix the wall.
So, the MLP Clinic ― a collaboration between the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Memphis Area Legal Services, and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital ― provided legal assistance, ensuring the landlord repaired the damage.
That is one of the many ways families with children who are victims of gun violence can need legal support.
“One of the things that goes unmentioned by a lot of the attention that gun violence gets ― both in our community and nationally ― is what happens after people heal from immediate trauma that they’ve experienced,” Katy Ramsey Mason, a professor at the U of M law school and director of the clinic, told The Commercial Appeal. “Families have to move forward. And that can be hard.”
Now, the MLP Clinic has received a significant financial boost as it looks to provide legal services to these families at a time when the number of child gunshot victims is on the rise.
‘Searching them out’
The U of M Law School has received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the Everytown Law Fund, which is part of the New York-based nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety and finances a variety of litigation projects tied to gun violence. The money is going to the MLP Clinic, and it will be used to fund the hiring of an Everytown Legal Fellow who is expected to focus on civil legal issues impacting victims of pediatric gun violence.
The law school is the first place to receive a grant for an Everytown Legal Fellow, and the hope is that the program can be replicated throughout the nation.
“We’re really trying to do our part to improve the circumstances and the lives of those children who have been affected by gun violence in Memphis,” said Katharine Schaffzin, dean of the law school.
Founded in 2015, the MLP Clinic already aids low-income families and patients at Le Bonheur, by providing them with free legal services in a variety of areas. Under Ramsey Mason’s supervision, eight U of M law students represent families in matters like housing, insurance and education, as well as gun violence.
But the grant and legal fellow ― who has yet to be hired ― will oversee an additional eight students or so who provide legal support specifically for families affected by pediatric gun violence.
“We’re actually going to be searching them out… to say, ‘We have the services that we can provide you, in addition to the medical care that you’re going to receive,’” Ramsey Mason said. “The ability to increase those services… is really something I think that will be a big asset to our program, to the community, and to the Le Bonheur patient population.”
The specific types of civil legal help the MLP Clinic provides will vary depending on families’ needs. For example, if a gunshot wound leaves a child disabled, it could help the family navigate through the world of disability benefits. Or, if a child were to need special education services after being shot, but their school didn’t accommodate them, the clinic could intervene.
“Trauma manifests in a lot of different ways. There can be mental health considerations in addition to physical health considerations,” Ramsey Mason said. “The needs of a family are likely to change after a child has been a victim of gun violence.”
There are also families whose children don’t survive gunshot wounds, and they, too, often must grapple with pain and other effects long after the violence takes place. Everytown and the U of M Law School held a press conference announcing the grant on Aug. 30, and one of the speakers was Stacie Payne, whose son Cameron was shot and killed in 2015, when he was just 19 years old. She’s now a fellow for the Everytown Survivor Network, and she shared what it was like to lose her child – who she described as “smart, lovable,” and “fun to be around.”
“For just a second, if you could, close your eyes, and imagine being stampeded by a herd of elephants. That’s the pain I felt in my heart without Cameron,” she said. “I’m proud to be here today… as they announce a new initiative to support families like mine, whose lives have been forever changed by gun violence.”
‘Not a secret in our community’
The grant from Everytown comes as gun violence remains at the forefront of local social and political conversations. On Tuesday, Tennessee’s special legislative session ended without significant changes to the state’s gun laws, which frustrated many community members and activists. And in Memphis, the number of children affected by gun violence has increased in recent years.
In 2019, Le Bonheur treated 90 pediatric patients for gunshot wounds, according to data provided by the hospital. Then, in 2020, it treated 134. In 2021, that number jumped to 158, before ticking down to 150 in 2022. As of Aug. 21, it’s seen 119 patients for gunshots in 2023.
And of those 119, seven didn’t survive.
“It’s not a secret that our community is suffering under the scourge of gun violence,” Schaffzin said.
‘An incredible honor’
The number of child gunshot victims in Memphis is one of the reasons Everytown selected it for the grant, if not the only reason. Len Kamdang, the director of litigation strategies and trials for Everytown Law ― which oversees the Everytown Law Fund ― noted that the city’s leaders have been “open to common sense gun violence solutions,” and that it has high-caliber children’s hospitals, like Le Bonheur.
More:How Memphis-area schools are protecting students amid an increase in school shootings
The law school’s existing partnership with Le Bonheur through the MLP Clinic also made the city an ideal choice.
“The chance to work with juvenile survivors of gun violence and their families, and to provide those legal services, is something we haven’t seen across the country,” Kamdang said.
The grant is also particularly special for Kamdang. His wife is from Memphis, and it’s where his in-laws live. Every summer, his daughter spends about a month here.
“It’s very much a city we want to be a part of our child’s life growing up,” he said. “So, the chance to work with other children in Memphis and help them… is an incredible honor.”
John Klyce covers education and children’s issues for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at John.klyce@commercialappeal.com
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