On Tuesday, March 23, VOLS’ Legal Director Peter Kempner spoke at a hearing of the New York City Council’s Committee on Veterans. The hearing was part of the City’s Preliminary Budget Hearing and you can read the full transcript of the testimony below:
Good afternoon. My name is Peter Kempner. I am the Legal Director at Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS). VOLS was established in 1984 and our purpose is to leverage private attorneys to provide free legal services to low income New Yorkers to help fill the justice gap.
In addition to my duties as Legal Director of VOLS, I founded and supervise the VOLS Veterans Initiative. I also created and teach the Veterans Justice Clinic at New York Law School; I sit on the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs; I am a member of the New York State Bar Association Veterans Committee; I co-chair the New York City Legal Services Veterans Working Group; I am a member of the veterans committee at the statewide New York Legal Services Coalition; and I have held many past positions focused on the civil legal needs of low income veterans. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the VOLS Veterans Initiative conducted free weekly legal clinics at the Manhattan Campus of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ NY Harbor Health Care System where we provided free civil legal services to low-income veterans aged 60 and over. After the crisis shut the VA Hospital to outside visitors, we moved our services online and launched a legal hotline for low-income elderly veterans. The core work that VOLS does for veterans is the drafting and execution of life planning documents which include Last Wills and Testaments, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, Living Wills and other advance directives.
As we look ahead to the needs of New York City’s Veterans over the upcoming fiscal year, there are many lessons to be learned from the pandemic year we are emerging from and we must acknowledge the enormous challenges confronting our City’s veterans. As a legal services provider we focus on where we as attorneys can help address these problems and I want to draw attention to three interconnected legal challenges faced by New York City’s veterans. They are the coming eviction crisis, the need to ensure that veterans have access to the benefits to which they are entitled, and the need to make certain that all vulnerable veterans have the right plan in place in the event they ever become incapacitated or pass away.
In January 2021, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs reported that more veterans had died of COVID-19 than from Operation Iraqi Freedom (which lasted from 2003 – 2010) and Operation Enduring Freedom (which lasted from 2001 – 2015), combined. In addition, a 2020 study using national Veterans Administration data showed that of veterans who tested positive for COVID-19 between February 28, 2020 and May 14, 2020, most deaths were attributed to being age 50 and older, male, and having a greater comorbidity burden.
NYC Department of Veterans Services estimates there are 210,000 veterans of all economic backgrounds living in the city, 30% of whom are age 55+. VOLS serves low-income veterans living at up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level, which considers the high cost of living in New York City and ensure that veterans with service-related disabilities can access our services. Veterans face civil legal challenges and a dearth of affordable, quality legal services. Many do not know whom to turn to for legal help. According to the Legal Services Corporation 2017 Justice Gap report, 71% of veterans faced at least one civil legal problem and 21% had six or more problems in the past year. According to the same report, veterans seek professional legal help for 21% of problems because they did not know where to look (29%), because they decided to deal with problem on own (25%), or because they were not sure if the issue was a legal matter (18%).
Studies suggest that veterans, like the population at large, have not engaged in life planning. For example, a 2015 study of veterans diagnosed with cancer found that close to half lacked a documented advance directive. A 2017 study by the University of California found that 81% of more than 2,500 veterans they surveyed did not have an advanced directive. Among the U.S. population, approximately 37% have completed an advance directive, including 29% with living wills, according to an extensive review of 150 studies undertaken in 2017.
Military service instills a core set of values that can profoundly impact a service member even decades after completing their service. Values such as hard work, stoicism, service before self, teamwork, honor and courage often shape veterans’ lives. These values can also prevent veterans from asking for help when they need it. Members of the armed services are also taught to be self-reliant, to shun complaining in any form, and to conform and maintain a certain level of anonymity. In the military, asking for help can be considered a sign of weakness and is often discouraged. But elderly veterans – whose age and infirmities can threaten their independence – must receive help if their wishes for life planning and end-of-life care are to be honored. Their chosen caregivers must also be empowered to speak on their behalf, should this become necessary due to incapacity.
41% of veterans in New York identify as African American, Asian, Latino, or multiracial. Many low-income and senior individuals of color have lacked access to quality healthcare prior to and during the pandemic; they have been particularly vulnerable to COVID- 19, with 28% and 34% of deaths coming from Black and Latinx communities, respectively. In addition, studies have shown that people of color are less likely to engage in advanced care planning.
By engaging in effective life planning, elderly and disabled veterans are more likely to stay in their homes, age in place and live with dignity. A veteran who has executed a power of attorney empowers their agent to seek government benefits to pay for housing costs, to sign leases, apply for and re-certify housing subsidies, and deal with any issue that may arise with their landlord or housing provider. Landlords and market forces are increasingly pushing long term tenants from their homes, so taking action to stabilize housing for veterans is more urgent than ever.
A study release just last week by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that for the first time in decade veteran homelessness in the United States has increased and that was before the devastating impact of the COVID-19 crisis was factored in. Our City has made tremendous strides in the past decade on the issue of veteran homelessness, but the COVID-19 crisis has the potential to undue much of the progress we have made and return us to the bad old days where veteran homelessness was much more pronounced and widespread. It is estimated that tens of thousands of New Yorkers may face homelessness when the current pauses on eviction filings and executions of warrants of eviction are lifted.
There is no doubt that there are scores of veterans amongst those facing homelessness and many of these veterans are those who are the most vulnerable. These are veterans who suffer from service-connected disabilities, veterans with histories of substance abuse, veterans with mental health disabilities and veterans who were formerly homeless. If evicted many of these veterans will end up in shelters or the streets.
The best way to prevent a backslide on veteran homelessness is to ensure it does not happen in the first place, which must include making sure that these veterans have access to free legal services in the event they face an eviction filing; that they are given representation to ensure access to VA benefits; and they are provided the tools they need to put the right plan in place to empower caregivers should they ever become incapacitated.
The common thread that brings these issues together is how access to free legal services is transformative for veterans in need. From eviction prevention, to life planning, to accessing critical government benefits and on so many other fronts, having access to free legal services is an important tool in our toolbox to help abate the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the New York City veteran community.
VOLS would like to applaud the New York City Council for funding free legal services for our veteran community and urge the Council to take the necessary steps to safeguard and even increase this funding in the upcoming fiscal year. Having access to free, high quality, veteran focused legal services will ensure a brighter future for those who have sacrificed so much for all of us.
Thank you for allowing us to submit this testimony and for supporting the New York City veteran community.