Supporting Veterans Through Legal Aid

The Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program—a DCBF grantee partner—provides free legal aid to veterans to help with various services related to benefits, eviction, and other issues. This work is largely supported by volunteer attorneys. Veterans face unique legal challenges and navigating Veteran Affairs' often bureaucratic systems and policies can be daunting. The Veteran Consortium specializes in legal services for veterans and deeply understands the distinct needs of DC's veterans. To keep the cost of these services free, The Veterans Consortium offers pro bono services which are critical to helping veterans overcome barriers and ensure they receive the rights and benefits they deserve.

In this Q&A, Chesley Michaels, deputy director of Legal Assistance Programs, talks about some of the work The Veterans Consortium is doing to help veterans.  

Tell us about The Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program’s Legal Advice and Referral Clinics.

The Veterans Consortium began operating Legal Advice and Referral Clinics in 2017 at the Washington VA Medical Center. In 2020, to meet the growing demand for legal services specifically for veterans, we began offering virtual legal advice and referral clinics as well as referral clinics specifically for women veterans. Since 2017, we have conducted over 250 clinics and assisted over 3,000 veterans. Our clinics address the growing number of veterans experiencing legal issues.

Explain the referral clinics that were created specifically for women veterans.

Women are the fastest-growing subpopulation of the military and veteran communities. There are currently over 2 million female veterans of the US military, accounting for nearly 9% of the veteran population. One in four women veterans reported they suffered sexual trauma while serving in the military, putting them at increased risk for depression, substance abuse, and PTSD. Compounding the problems faced by women during service is the fact that upon separation, women veterans are less likely to self-identify as veterans. This can result in women failing to seek out benefits and not engaging in veterans’ groups that offer much-needed support and resources.

In 2020, The Veterans Consortium created the “Women Veterans Legal Assistance Program” where our staff and volunteers help veterans through a trauma-informed approach. This program is specifically designed to assist women veterans who have been denied VA benefits.

What are some of your organization’s biggest challenges?

For most veterans, if they are receiving a certain amount of benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, they are not eligible to receive free legal services. However, at the same time, the veteran may be living with conditions that make it impossible for them to work, making them unable to afford legal services. This gap can cause problems when trying to ensure veterans are receiving quality legal services.

What is one client story that highlights the importance and impact of The Veterans Consortium?

A female veteran came to our legal advice and referral clinic in at a very vulnerable point; she and her children were facing eviction, and she could not find an apartment in DC that would accept her housing voucher, which was set to expire within a few weeks. The volunteer attorney who met with her at the clinic recognized the importance of helping the veteran maintain stability and stepped up to continue providing pro bono representation after the clinic. With the attorney’s assistance, the veteran was able to find an apartment that accepted her voucher before it expired. On top of that, the attorney successfully advocated on the veteran’s behalf to have two prior default judgments listed as satisfied with the court, hopefully preventing them from affecting rental applications in the future.