Legal scholars discuss the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ new report, “Achieving Civil Justice: A Framework for Collaboration,” on Talk Justice.  Since 2014, the Academy’s Making Justice Accessible project. has highlighted the scale of the civil justice gap by recognizing its social, economic and human costs, and calling for improved data collection. The project is also looking ahead to set standards for civil justice and to ensure all Americans have meaningful access to justice.

Veterans and legal experts discuss wrap-around services to address the needs of veterans with substance use disorder on Talk Justice. Many veterans live with mental or behavioral health challenges, including traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder. Approximately 1 in 10 veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffers from some form of substance abuse. And according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the rate of opioid use disorder among veterans is almost double that of the general population. Civil legal aid, the U.S. Department of Justice and Veterans Courts provide vital assistance for veterans facing a substance use disorder, from obtaining health care benefits to securing treatment. This discussion originally took place at LSC’s November 19 event, “Honor in Justice: Supporting America’s Veterans.”

Legal aid staff in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina discuss their wide-ranging hurricane response efforts on Talk Justice. In the wake of devastating hurricanes in the southeast, legal aid organizations are mobilizing to provide emergency assistance and recovery services. The legal aid providers stress the importance of legal services becoming engrained in the disaster response ecosystem so that other recovery organizations know to refer people to legal aid, and legal aid knows where to refer clients with non-legal issues.