Veterans Clinic to Receive Award from CVLC

The Veterans Legal Services Clinic of Yale Law School will receive the Veterans Justice Award from the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center. The award will be presented on November 12 at an event at the New Haven Museum.

The Veterans Legal Services Clinic, established in 2010, represents Connecticut veterans in litigation before administrative agencies and courts, on benefits, discharge upgrade, immigration, and civil rights cases. In addition, clinic students represent local and national organizations in non-litigation matters relating to the legal needs of veterans, including regulatory and legislative reform efforts, media advocacy, strategic planning, and other matters.

The clinic makes special efforts to assist vulnerable veteran populations and those least connected to existing service networks, such as women, recently returned, non-citizen, LGBT, veterans of color, and elderly veterans.

The Mission of CVLC is to help veterans recovering from homelessness and mental illness overcome legal barriers to housing, healthcare, and income. CVLC was the first legal services organization in the country to be co-located, and staffed on a daily basis, within a VA community mental health facility. This location gives the 3,600 veterans a year who seek VA’s mental health, employment, housing, addiction, wellness and primary care services at the VA Connecticut’s Errera Community Care Center easy access to free legal assistance.