TORONTO — Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children is launching an innovative program that is adding lawyers to the teams of doctors, nurses and therapists who care for its young patients.

The hospital has teamed with Pro Bono Law Ontario and two local law firms to provide free legal assistance for non-medical issues that may threaten a family's ability to care for their sick child.

Parents or caregivers with legal difficulties - such as being fired from a job because of time spent at the hospital with their child - are referred by hospital staff to the Legal Family Health Program's on-site "triage" lawyer.

"Every day at Sick Kids, we see children who are affected by the social determinants of health, which are defined as the conditions in which people live and work that impact their health and well-being," said Dr. Ted McNeill, director of social work.

"This program is aimed at families who may be experiencing financial hardship and who might otherwise not be able to have access to legal services."

While officially launching this month, a testing phase of the program that began in the spring has brought in an average of 30 referrals a month, said McNeill. "We feel that it will meet a real need that exists within the patient population that we serve."

Program lawyer Lee Ann Chapman said she can meet with families in her office or at the child's bedside. Some issues she can solve herself, while others are referred to pro bono lawyers who specialize in various areas of law.

Chapman said legal problems range from immigration issues to taking on landlords over mouldy apartments that exacerbate a child's asthma.

Cindy and Jeff Desbiens of Waterloo, Ont., turned to the legal program after Revenue Canada refused to allow their claim for about $12,000 in travel and other expenses related to their daughter Charolette's prolonged stay in Sick Kids Hospital.

Charolette, now three years old, was born with a life-threatening heart defect, which required several surgeries during a 4 1/2-month hospital stay.

"When Charolette was struggling and things were critical during the surgery and recovery, we were both here," said Cindy Desbiens. The couple was also caring for their older daughter at the time.

"So we were trying to balance the needs of both of the children in two different cities," she said, explaining that she and her husband travelled back and forth to Waterloo to cover weekdays and weekends with Charolette.

Revenue Canada disallowed their claim because they said the parents were just "visiting" their child, said Desbiens, allowing that she felt almost insulted by that term.

"I felt that that didn't acknowledge the role we played. We weren't just visiting, we were parenting Charolette."

The cost of travel and spending all those months away from home was an extra stress added to the burden of having an extremely sick child - but having to fight the government for a tax reimbursement on top of that added yet another layer of distress, she said.

"We were certainly relieved, to say the least, to know that we were going to have help," said Desbiens. The tax lawyer the family was referred to challenged the Revenue Canada decision and the federal department chose not to contest it.

Having the legal health program to turn to "meant there was a huge load lifted off our shoulders," she said. "It was one less thing that we had to deal with when we were already dealing with a great deal."

McNeill said the in-hospital legal program is believed to be the first of its kind in Canada.

"What we think is creative and innovative about the program is that it brings the availability of a lawyer to health-care teams," he said. "In that way it recognizes that there are issues beyond the narrow medical treatment of the condition or the disease that must be addressed if we're going to be successful caring for a child."