Resources
Veterans Resources at Penn State
Penn State has a strong commitment to military members and their families, and has been honored by prominent publications and organizations such as Military Advanced Education, Military Friendly Schools, U.S. News & World Report, and the Council of College and Military Educators. The links below are intended to provide Penn State students and prospective Penn State students with information about the services Penn State offers to assist veterans with issues relating to their military service. Note: The Clinic provides links only as a convenience and does not imply endorsement by Penn State Dickinson Law.
Veterans' Community Resources
This page is intended to provide the veteran community and its families with resources outside the scope of general legal assistance or Pennsylvania specific resources. Note: The Clinic provides links only as a convenience and does not imply endorsement by Penn State Dickinson Law.
National Resource Directory: www.NationalResourceDirectory.gov
The National Resource Directory is a page dedicated to linking veterans, servicemembers, their families, and caregivers with benefits and those who support them.
Vet Center Program: www.vetcenter.va.gov
Vet Centers across the country provide a broad range of counseling, outreach, and referral services to combat veterans and their families. Vet Centers guide veterans and their families through many of the major adjustments in lifestyle that often occur after a veteran returns from combat. All services are free and strictly confidential.
Suicide and Crisis Resources
Defense Suicide Prevention Office: www.dspo.mil/
The Defense Suicide Prevention Office serves as the Defense Department oversight authority for development, implementation, and evaluation of policies and programs aimed at reducing the impact of suicide in servicemembers and their families.
National Center for PTSD: www.ptsd.va.gov
The National Center for PTSD is dedicated to research and education on trauma and PTSD. The center works to assure that the latest findings help those exposed to trauma.
Defense Centers of Excellence: www.dcoe.mil
Defense Centers of Excellence oversees three centers, each of which contributes unique insights, standards, clinical tools, and research products to the fields of psychological health and traumatic brain injury.
National Child Traumatic Stress Network: https://www.nctsn.org/
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network was established to improve access to care, treatment, and services for traumatized children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events. Its mission is to raise the standard of care and improve access to services for traumatized children, their families, and communities throughout the United States.
Substance Use Resources
National Institute on Drug Abuse: www.NIDA.NIH.gov/tib/vet.html
The National Institute on Drug Abuse's mission is to lead the nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: (SAMHSA): www.SAMHSA.gov/militaryfamilies
SAMHSA leads efforts to ensure servicemembers and their families can have access to behavioral health treatment and services.
Legal Resources for Veterans
The below links are intended to provide veterans with resources that can assist them in seeking legal representation from outside sources that may be beyond the scope of the Penn State Dickinson Law Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic (VSLC). Note: The Clinic provides links only as a convenience and does not imply endorsement by Penn State Dickinson Law.
Military Assistance Project
https://militaryassistanceproject.org/
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Military Assistance Project (MAP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2011 to provide free legal services for active duty, reserve component, or veteran military personnel and their widow/spouses in the form of pro bono consumer and selected veteran’s administrative law services. The organization website’s explains its services for consumer issues and bankruptcy, and VA disability claims and appeals, and discharge upgrades.
American Bar Association Veterans' Claims Assistance Network
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_services/milvets/aba_home_front/Military_Pro_Bono/aba-veterans-claims-and-assistance-network/veterans/
This volunteer service connects veterans in need with attorneys who can help them complete their initial VA disability claims.
American Bar Association Operation Home Front
https://www.americanbar.org/about_the_aba/aba_public_resources/
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/resources/resources_for_the_public/
Operation Home Front is a program designed by the American Bar Association to assist veterans in finding legal help. The program links veterans with attorneys across the country who will provide legal services to veterans, many times at low or no cost. The website also includes a directory of programs organized by state.
Pennsylvania Bar Association Lawyers Saluting Veterans (LSV) Program
www.pabar.org/public/Lsv.asp
Through this special program, Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) members handle cases in their areas of practice or expertise on a wide range of issues for Pennsylvania's military veterans, free of charge. The PBA's Pro Bono Office and Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee coordinate the program.
Stateside Legal
www.statesidelegal.org/findinghelp
Stateside Legal is a comprehensive website for members of the military, veterans, their families and advocates. The goal is to help veterans access benefits, find free legal help, and better understand their legal issues.
Veterans Justice Outreach
www.va.gov/HOMELESS/VJO.asp
The purpose of the Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) Program is to avoid the unnecessary criminalization of mental illness and extended incarceration among veterans by ensuring that eligible justice-involved veterans have timely access to VHA services as clinically indicated. Veterans Justice Outreach specialists are responsible for direct outreach, assessment, and case management for justice-involved veterans in local courts and jails, and liaise with local justice system partners. Please note that the VA cannot provide legal services, but can direct veterans to eligible programs in the veteran’s local geographic region.
Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
https://www.dmva.pa.gov/veteransaffairs/Documents/Benefits-Booklet.pdf “Booklet of benefits and services for veterans and their beneficiaries in Pennsylvania”
http://www.milvet.state.pa.us/DMVA/Docs_BVA/dmvastatebenefits.pdf “Overview of benefits and services for veterans and their beneficiaries in Pennsylvania”
The VSLC works alongside several advocates at the local, state, and federal level in Pennsylvania. Particularly, the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) has provided great support to the VSLC by facilitating discussion on ways to improve and assist in the process for filing and representing veterans in the claims process. The DMVA does not provide legal assistance. However, the DMVA can be a great resource for Pennsylvania veterans by explaining how assistance through county veteran service officers, chartered veteran service organizations, and state service officers can be found with filing claims before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The DMVA website also includes a helpful link to the 67 veteran service officers, chartered veteran service organizations, and state service officers.
VetLex
https://vetlex.org/
Veteran Referral Form and Areas of Expertise: https://vetlex.org/veterans/
The VetLex platform provides an online tool for obtaining pro bono counsel for veterans’ specific legal needs, which could be civil, criminal, or administrative (benefit claims, for example). VetLex does not provide legal services; rather, it is an online cooperative system of intake, assessment, and referral envisioned to quickly and effectively connect veterans in need of legal services with those who stand ready to provide them. It also provides educational information on basic legal concepts, as well as a convenient repository for paperwork (like DD 214s) that are required multiple times by various service providers.