Pro Bono

• Jurisdiction: United States,Federal,Georgia
• Citation: Vol. 26 No. 5 Pg. 0052
• Pages: 0052
• Publication year: 2021

Pro Bono No. Vol. 26, No. 5, Pg. 52 Georgia Bar Journal April, 2021

Make 2021 the Year of the Unseen Veteran

This year, MLAP and its volunteer lawyers will delve more deeply into legal issues affecting our low-income rural veterans. No one left behind, no veteran left unseen.

BY MIKE MONAHAN

The Pew Research Center reports that U.S. military veterans have consistently had higher standards of living than non-veterans over the past 40 years. The Pew Research Center study also indicates more good news—that "households headed by veterans have higher incomes and are less likely to be in poverty, on average, and this is especially the case for veterans in racial or ethnic minority groups and those with less education."^[1]

Despite the overall good economic health of veterans, the U.S. Census reveals 1.5 million veterans live at or under the federal poverty level in the United States.^[2] In Georgia, more than 52,000 veterans are receiving SNAP (food stamps) benefits—that's about 8% of the state's 625,000 veteran population. It's a population small enough to be politically weak, unseen and ignored.

What would a "New Legal Deal" look like for these unseen 52,000 low- or noincome Georgia veterans? With more than 33,000 in-state, active lawyers in Georgia, we could make significant strides in using the law to breach or reduce barriers veterans face to housing and veterans' benefits and improve their access to education, job training and health care. Legal intervention can also prevent descent into poverty. For the veteran, the transition from activeduty payroll is a critical moment for legal help on issues of employment, family stability and homelessness.

Veterans and non-veterans with a disability are more likely to be among the working-poor than those who are non-disabled. The Veterans Administration recognizes the fastest-growing contingent of economically insecure veterans is the single parent, a majority of whom are women veterans.^[3]

Our Military Legal Assistance Program (MLAP) has been serving the legal needs of Georgia's veteran and military active duty for more than a decade. MLAP identifies pro bono opportunities for members of our Bar that are in line with our aspirational Bar Rule 6.1 that urges lawyers to dedicate at least 50 hours per year of pro bono service. Volunteer attorneys provide pro bono representation on a variety of civil legal issues, including family law matters, veterans' benefits, guardianship, debt and...