The VOLS Veterans Initiative joined other members of the New York City Veterans Law Working Group in submitting a statement to the annual “Chief Judge’s Hearing on Civil Legal Services in New York” of the New York State Permanent Commission on Access to Justice. VOLS and other members of the Working Group highlight the legal issues facing older veterans and advocate for the allocation of adequate legal service providers for older veterans.
VOLS’ Legal Director and Senior Law Project Director, Peter Kempner, co-chairs the New York City Veterans Law Working Group and participated as a co-author in the written testimony, which stated that “Recognizing military service and providing culturally sensitive services must be a part of the diversity, inclusion, and elimination of bias work that is critically important to quality legal representation.” The Working Group comprises legal services advocates from various civil legal organizations across the State with practices focused on serving veterans, military service members, and their families, as well as law-school affiliated entities.
The 714,000 veterans in New York State are a remarkably diverse population. They represent a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds, age groups, and sexual orientations, among other characteristics. What simple demographic data does not always capture, however, is the long-term impact these immutable characteristics have on veterans’ experiences both during and after service, which can lead to socioeconomic challenges and an increased need for civil legal services. Meeting the diverse legal needs of veterans requires an equally diverse set of approaches from the legal services community, beginning with military cultural competency and screening for military affiliation.
The full statement, which advocates that legal service providers screen for military statuses of their clients as well as train legal services attorneys with cultural competency to reflect the diverse pool of veterans living in NYC, which includes Veterans of Color; Women, Gender Diverse, and LGBTQIA+ Veterans; and Veterans with Disabilities, is available below: