Elaine E. Fink, Legal Aid of Southwest Ohio’s Managing Attorney-Children and Education Practice Group, is the winner of the 2016 Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation Murphy Award.
The Foundation created by the award in 1998, which is named for the late Denis Murphy, a Columbus lawyer and founding board member who advocated for strong funding for civil legal aid.
Ms. Fink, a career legal aid attorney, is a nationally recognized expert in education law and led the creation of TeamChild, a partnership between schools, Legal Aid, and the Hamilton County Juvenile Court, which helps to keep high-risk children in school. She also led the development of Kids in School Rule! (KISR!), a nationally recognized partnership between Hamilton County Job and Family Services, Cincinnati Public Schools, Legal Aid and the Hamilton County Juvenile Court. She is the co-founder and director of Child HeLP, Legal Aid’s partnership with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center which received a top national award this year from the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnerships.
She was nominated for the Murphy Award by Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati board members and executive director Mary Asbury, who said that, through her work, Fink “has transformed opportunities for children in Southwest Ohio.”
The award will be presented to Ms. Fink today at a Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati board of trustees meeting.