Talk Justice: Episode 70
How Legal Services Help Prevent Veteran Suicides
Experts discuss how legal services contribute to veteran suicide prevention on LSC’s “Talk Justice” podcast. The most recent data places the veteran suicide rate at 57% higher than non-veterans. Research indicates that social factors contribute to veterans’ suicide risk. Many of these factors that harm veterans’ mental health relate to civil legal problems that can be addressed with the help of an attorney. For more information on veterans’ legal needs and helpful resources, visit lsc.gov/spotlight-veterans-rights.
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Featured Guests
Jeff Staton is the Managing Attorney of the Community Empowerment Division of the Legal Aid Society Louisville (LAS). In this role, Jeff oversees attorney and para-legal staff who collaborate with community partners to deliver legal services to underserved populations including veterans, the homeless, those affected by substance use disorder and significant health conditions in Jefferson County Kentucky, which includes the Louisville Metropolitan area, as well as the 14 surrounding counties in Kentucky. The Community Empowerment Division depends heavily on a medical-legal partnership model to reach the target client population by partnering with other critical service providers such as the Robley Rex VA medical center, the St. Johns Center for the Homeless and Professional Advocacy, an organization that provides services to those affected by substance use.
Prior to his role as Managing Attorney, Jeff worked for LAS as the staff attorney for the HIV/AIDS Legal Project providing legal services to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. During that time, Jeff also assisted in establishing a medical legal partnership called Doctors and Lawyers for Kids which provides legal services to parents and children at several local pediatric clinics and Family Health Centers in the city of Louisville, Kentucky.
Before his 15-year career at LAS, Jeff was a public defender in both Seattle, WA and Minneapolis, MN. Jeff earned a B.S. in Political Science from Truman State University and a J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law.
Dr. Eric Elbogen is Director of the National Veterans Financial Resource Center (FINVET) at the Department of Veterans Affairs and Professor of Psychiatry at Duke University. He has run money management groups for Veterans at the VA and led a Department of Education-funded study testing a Veteran-Centered money management intervention. Dr. Elbogen also conducted a National Institute of Mental Health-funded national survey that identified links between money management problems and homelessness in Veterans and between financial strain and suicidal ideation in Veterans.
Host
Will A. Gunn is the Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). In 2009, he was appointed by President Barack Obama as the General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a position in which he served for five years. Subsequently, he was an attorney with a solo law practice, assisting military members facing adverse actions.