National VOAD Board Approves LSC Proposal for Disaster Legal Committee
Contact
Carl Rauscher
Legal Services Corporation
Director of Communications and Media Relations
rauscherc@lsc.gov
202-295-1615
April D. Wood
National VOAD
President & CEO
WASHINGTON, D.C.— National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) has created a new committee focused on legal issues caused by disasters. At their meeting on February 25, the National VOAD Board unanimously approved a proposal from the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to form the Disaster Legal Committee.
Addressing disaster-related civil legal issues is a crucial component of comprehensive disaster response and recovery efforts. Civil legal aid providers, including the 130 organizations funded by LSC, play a critical role in disaster response, recovery and preparedness across the country. Legal aid staff and attorneys have expertise from previous hurricane, flood, wildfire and other recovery efforts, and have established key collaborations between service providers.
Survivors can face a myriad of legal issues after a disaster, from relatively simple legal issues, such as replacing identification, to more complex legal issues involving housing or consumer scams. Regardless of when these issues arise, identifying legal needs and seeking out assistance as early as possible often results in better outcomes for the survivor, and by extension, their family and community.
“Disaster legal support and effective legal advocacy is crucial to ensuring individuals and families affected by disasters receive the support they need,” affirmed April D. Wood, National VOAD President & CEO. “It empowers disaster survivors by providing them the knowledge and resources to assert their legal rights, ensuring fair treatment and access to essential services during recovery.”
“When life-changing events like disasters happen, legal aid is there to help low-income families access vital resources and resolve issues that can put their housing, employment or safety at risk,” says LSC President Ron Flagg. “LSC is excited to collaborate with National VOAD to elevate the role of civil legal aid in disaster response and preparedness.”
The new Disaster Legal Committee will work to integrate legal services more fully into the existing National VOAD disaster recovery work, enhancing the collective ability of its members to serve survivors effectively. The committee will also help National VOAD members mitigate the long-term impacts of unresolved legal issues on individuals, families and communities by focusing on better identifying civil legal issues, improving service delivery and enhancing communication.
National VOAD is an association of organizations that mitigate and alleviate the impact of disaster that provides a forum promoting cooperation, communication, coordination and collaboration, and fosters more effective delivery of services to communities affected by disaster. National VOAD has more than 130 members and an affiliate in every state and territory, called State/Territory VOADs and the District of Columbia.