Law and Veterans' Issues: Policy Challenges and Best Practices

Submitted by kathim on December 10, 2012 - 2:29pm

Dean of Students Events

When

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Where

289B

Description

Mini- Course: Law and Veterans’ Issues: Policy Challenges and Best Practices

Lecturers:

Paul A. Dillon

Paul A. Dillon is a former Army Reserve 1^stLieutenant, who was awarded two Bronze Star Medals for action during the Vietnam War. He has long been active in veterans’ affairs, and recently completed a research assignment for Crain’s Chicago Business, which served as the basis for the highly acclaimed “Veterans in the Workplace” Focus section that was published by Crain’s on November 8, 2012. He has taught at both Governors State University and at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and is the founder and CEO of Dillon Consulting Services LLC, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and State of Illinois certified Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business.

Lydia Lazar

Lydia Lazar is an associate dean of the Harris School. Lydia served as the assistant dean for international law and policy development at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she directed the graduate program for international lawyers and taught the Introduction to the American Legal System. A member of the Illinois Bar, Lydia practiced in the corporate and securities group of Sachnoff & Weaver (now Reed Smith LLC), prior to her academic career.

Course Details

Dates: Tuesdays, January 15, 22, 29 and February 5, 2013

Time: 6-8 pm

Location: Harris School, 1155 E. 60^thStreet, Room 289B

RSVP at http://harrisschool.uchicago.edu/content/law-and-veterans-issues-policy-challenges-and-best-practices .

Course Overview

The plight of our military personnel, who have left the service after returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, is “front page” news in the media every day. Often, stories of veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, debilitating physical injuries, poverty, homelessness, unemployment lead the daily newscasts, and are the featured stories on media web sites. Less understood, and often left unreported, are the many positive skills and valuable experiences that veterans bring to both the workplace and the communities in which they live. Even less understood or publicized are the policy responses and myriad programs that governments, NGO’s, labor organizations, and the private sector have implemented to improve the lives of veterans returning not just from the most recent conflicts, but from all wars, including the Gulf War and the Vietnam War.

This mini-course will present the problems and promise of our veterans, and the policy responses and programs that have been implemented to meet the needs of those who have served our country. Students will have an opportunity to engage with experts on veterans’ mental health and substance abuse issues, the problem of homelessness and housing for veterans, legal issues relating to the veteran community (including veterans’ courts), and employment programs for veterans.

For each session, a team of students will have the opportunity to prepare a five-minute presentation and two page paper on each of the issues covered in the mini-course. The guest speakers will provide commentary on the students’ papers. At the culmination of the course, the papers will be combined and edited into a white paper analyzing the effectiveness of existing policies and programs, and providing recommendations for new policies that could have a significant, positive impact on veterans and their families. The white paper may be submitted for publication to those journals and media outlets that have an interest in veterans’ issues.

Course Topics and Speakers

I Jan 15: Introduction to Veterans’ Issues—Past and Present

We will kick off the course with a showing of the Oscar nominated documentary “To Hell and Back” followed by a panel discussion with

Medal of Honor Recipient Allen Lynch, retired, former Chief of Veterans Rights Bureau of Illinois Attorney General
Erica Borggren, Director, Illinois Dept of Veterans’ Affairs

To Hell and Back—an Oscar nominated documentary film that describes the challenges faced by an injured Iraq war veteran as he attempts to reintegrate back into civilian life.

II Jan 22: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Substance Abuse

Dr. John Mundt, Jesse Brown VA Center
Alex Napiorkowski, Jesse Brown VA Center
Dr. Neelum Aggarwal Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Rush University
Don Cooke, McCormick Foundation (invited, pending confirmation)

III Jan 29: Legal Issues and Veterans’ Courts

Hon. John P Kirby Chief, Veterans Court, Circuit Court of Cook County
Jaime Martinez, General Counsel, Illinois Dept of Veterans’ Affairs

IV Feb 5: Homelessness and Housing Options for Veterans

Mark Angelini, Regional Vice President, Mercy Housing
Elizabeth Belcaster, EMB Consultant,Co-founder Utility Workers Military Assistance Program
Lore Baker, Executive Director Supportive Housing Providers Association
Steve Calk, Chairman and Chief Executive, National Bancorp Holdings

COURSE RESOURCES

I Jan 15: Introduction to Veterans’ Issues—Past and Present

Investing in the Best, Center for a New American Security, April 2012
Upholding the Promise, Center for a New American Security, November 2012
Sea of Goodwill – White paper, Major John W Copeland and Colonel David W Sutherland
Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families – website: http://vets.syr.edu/research/briefs/
The Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University – website: https://www.mfri.purdue.edu/publications/reports.aspx
Health and Disability Advocates – Illinois connections: Assisting Veterans and Military Families Website:

http://www.hdadvocates.org/program_policy/military_families.asp

These are a good overview of the most pressing issues facing the veteran community:

IAVA Policy Agenda 2012. IAVA, 2012.

“Upholding the Promise: Supporting Veterans and Military Personnel in the Next Four Years.”Phillip Carter, Center for New American Security, November 2012.

II Jan 22: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Substance Abuse

Well After Service, Center for a New American Security, April 2012
Veterans Health Administration: Review of Veterans’ Access to Mental Health Care – VA Office of Inspector General, April 2012
The Post Traumatic Stress Trap – Scientific American, April 2009
The Difficult Transition from Military to Civilian Life, by Rich Morin, Pew Research Center December 2011
Is the Rate of Suicide Among Veterans Elevated? Editorial, American Journal of Public Health, Supplement 1, 2012, Vol 102, No. S1
Invisible Wounds of War: Psychological and Cognitive Injuries, Their Consequences, and Services to Assist Recovery, RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research, 2008:

Invisible Wounds of War, RAND, 2008.

Invisible Wounds: Psychological and Neurological Injuries Confront a New Generation of Veterans. Vanessa Williamson and Erin Mulhall, IAVA, January 2009.
DoD tracking of TBI:

Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center

The Challenge and the Promise: Strengthening the Force, Preventing Suicide and Saving Lives, Final Report of the Dept of Defense Task Force on the Prevention of Suicide by Members of the Armed Forces, August 2010
Substance Abuse

Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Armed Forces. Institute of Medicine, September 2012.

Also see ABA articles below (Jan 29)

III Jan 29: Legal Issues and Veterans’ Courts

Implementing Veterans’ Courts or Program in the State of Illinois – A Manual prepared by the Governor’s Task Force on Veterans…2^ndprinting December 2010
ABA articles
- Brain Trials – Neuroscience is taking a stand in the Courtroom
The National Center for State Courtsand Justice for Vetshave exhaustive lists of resources.
Veterans in State and Federal Prisons. Christopher J. Mumola, Margaret E. Noonan, Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2007.

VA and Health Care