Serving Veterans Series | Webinar 3: Screening & Technology

Join NLADA for the third webinar in our veterans series. In this webinar, we will go over why and how screening for veterans can help you better connect clients with services and what resources can better help you screen for veterans. We will hear from Sean Clark at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on this topic. We will also go over technology tools, sites, and apps that can help you better serve veterans. We will hear from Nan Heald at Pine Tree Legal Assistance, which hosts Stateside Legal. We also have time for questions at the end.

Veterans consistently report a high number of unmet legal needs: In the VA’s CHALENG survey of homeless veterans, four of the highest unmet needs were related to legal assistance. These issues were related to child support, eviction and foreclosure, restoring a driver’s license, and outstanding warrants and fines. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that on any given night, 37,878 veterans are homeless. An additional 1.4 million veterans considered to be at risk of homelessness due to poverty, overcrowding, and poor social networks. And almost 80 percent of homeless veterans have a mental illness or substance use disorder.

Hear in this webinar how and why you should screen clients for veteran status and why veterans might not think consider themselves to be veterans and why this matters. Learn about tech tools that can help you when connecting clients to services.

Helpful resources and technology tools:

• Stateside Legal: https://www.statesidelegal.org/

  • A “one-stop-shop for veterans” to understand the law and benefits as they pertain to veterans and servicemembers. Provides legal education tools and a national directory of service providers, including free and low-cost providers

  • If you have any feedback on Stateside Legal or would like to list your practice on their directory, contact Nan Heald from Pine Tree Legal Assistance at [email protected] 

• Justice for Vets: https://justiceforvets.org/

  • Does not offer legal advice or direct services but educates and trains veteran treatment court professionals.

• National Organization of Veterans Advocates, Inc.: https://www.vetadvocates.org/cpages/home

  • A national network of attorneys and legal professionals who advocate on behalf of veterans. Offers educational resources for veterans on approaching legal issues and a directory of attorneys who can help.

• National Veterans Legal Services Program: https://www.nvlsp.org/

  • Network of attorneys and professionals working to obtain services and benefits on behalf veterans –   NVLSP also offers https://www.nvlsp.org/va-app/ and Advocate Resource Manuals

• The Veterans Consortium: https://www.vetsprobono.org/ 

  • A consortium of attorneys who assist unrepresented veterans and their families in appeals to the U.S. Courts of Appeals for Veterans Claims free of charge.

• ABA Military and Veterans Legal Center: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_services/milvets/ 

  • Including Military Pro Bono, VCAN and various CLE opportunities. 

• VA App Store: https://mobile.va.gov/appstore/all

  • Collection of apps helping veterans find mental health resources, health providers, and soon to analyze VA benefits. 

• William & Mary veterans listserv [email protected] 

Contact information for panelists:
Casey Chiappetta
Senior Program Associate, Legal Services
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
[email protected] 

Radhika Singh
Chief, Civil Legal Services
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
[email protected] 

Sean Clark
National Director, Veterans Justice Programs
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
[email protected] 

Nan Heald
Executive Director
Pine Tree Legal Assistance
[email protected]