{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T22:30:04Z","timestamp":1792621804017,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"American Medical Association (AMA)","issue":"12","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JAMA Pediatr"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,1]]},"abstract":"Importance<\/jats:title>In 2017, New York, New York, launched the United States\u2019 first right-to-counsel program, guaranteeing lawyers to low-income tenants in select zip codes, which was associated with reducing eviction risk by half. Given documented associations between evictions during pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes, the right-to-counsel program may be associated with improved birth outcomes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Objective<\/jats:title>To measure associations between zip code\u2013level right-to-counsel access and risk of adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth and low birth weight, among infants born to Medicaid-insured birthing parents.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Design, Setting, and Participants<\/jats:title>This retrospective cohort study leveraged the staggered rollout of New York\u2019s right-to-counsel program from January 2016 to February 2020 as a natural experiment using a population-based sample of live births to Medicaid-insured birthing parents residing in New York, New York. Data were analyzed from February 2022 to September 2024.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Exposure<\/jats:title>Zip code right-to-counsel status 9 months prior to birth.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Main Outcomes and Measures<\/jats:title>Adverse birth outcomes were measured using individual birth records from the New York Bureau of Vital Statistics. Outcomes included dichotomous indicators of low birth weight (&amp;lt;2500 g), preterm birth (&amp;lt;37 weeks\u2019 gestation), and a composite of both. Difference-in-differences linear probability models controlled for year, month, and zip code and included clustered standard errors.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Results<\/jats:title>Among 260\u202f493 live births (mean [SD] birthing parent age, 29 [6] years) from January 2016 to February 2020, 43\u202f081 births (17%) were to birthing parents residing in zip codes where right-to-counsel was available during pregnancy. Exposure to right-to-counsel during pregnancy was associated with statistically significant reductions in infants\u2019 probability of adverse birth outcomes, with reductions of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.06-1.41) percentage points in low birth weight, 0.91 (95% CI, 0.10-1.71) percentage points in preterm birth, and 0.96 (95% CI, 0.09-1.84) percentage points in the composite outcome in treated vs untreated zip codes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>Conclusions and Relevance<\/jats:title>This cohort study found that right-to-counsel was associated with reduced risk of adverse birth outcomes among Medicaid-insured birthing parents. These findings suggest that eviction prevention via right-to-counsel may have benefits that extend beyond the courtroom and across the life-course.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapediatrics.2024.4699","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,28]],"date-time":"2024-10-28T15:32:24Z","timestamp":1730129544000},"page":"1337","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Tenant Right-to-Counsel and Adverse Birth Outcomes in New York, New York"],"prefix":"10.1001","volume":"178","author":[{"given":"Kathryn M.","family":"Leifheit","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katherine L.","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of General Internal Medicine & Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los 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