Talk Justice: Episode 95

richardsons@lsc.gov — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 17:35:42 +0000

Talk Justice: Episode 95 richardsons@lsc.gov Wed, 12/11/2024 - 12:35

Talk Justice: Episode Sixty-Two

richardsons@lsc.gov — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 16:00:30 +0000

Talk Justice: Episode Sixty-Two richardsons@lsc.gov Thu, 08/10/2023 - 12:00

LSC Opioid Task Force

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 20:49:05 +0000

LSC Opioid Task Force admin Tue, 04/13/2021 - 16:49

Background

The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis, devastating urban, suburban, and rural communities across the United States. Each day, 115 Americans die from opioid overdose. Over two million Americans are currently living with an opioid-related substance use disorder. Opioid-related disorders physically and psychologically cripple individuals and destroy family connections. A broad range of civil legal issues are frequently associated with such disorders, including issues related to child support/child custody/guardianship, health benefits, domestic violence, housing, employment, and child abuse and neglect.

As best practices for treatment and recovery emerge, policymakers, the criminal justice system, and public health officials have begun to recognize that a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach is needed both to help people recover from opioid-related disorders and to prevent additional individuals from becoming addicted in the future. There has been increased focus on how legal services and other social services can serve as critical recovery resources alongside medical treatment. For example, dozens of LSC grantees participate in medical-legal partnerships, which are flexible, collaborative arrangements in which legal professionals are embedded in a health care organization to address the unmet civil legal needs of patients that directly impact health outcomes.

Despite legal aid’s impact in helping individuals and families dealing with opioid-related disorders, there remains a significant gap in awareness regarding the prevalence of civil legal issues associated with the epidemic and the role civil legal aid providers can play in addressing those issues. Many organizations responding to opioid-related disorders are unaware not only of the issues facing individuals and families affected by the opioid epidemic, but also of their legal rights.

Opioid Task Force’s was comprised of a diverse group of LSC grantees, health care and public health experts, judges, business leaders, and other stakeholders. Its primary goals were:

Educate public health officials and treatment providers about the legal obstacles patients face in obtaining and remaining in treatment;
Educate judges, law enforcement officials, child welfare workers, and employers about the civil legal issues connected to medication-assisted treatment for opioid-related disorders;
Engage with public health officials, treatment providers, and others to promote a comprehensive model of recovery that includes legal aid attorneys as resources for individuals and families affected by the opioid epidemic; and
Provide a forum for study and discussion of potential best practices for engaging legal aid attorneys in the recovery process and identify and make recommendations to promote such practices.

To read more about the work of LSC’s other task forces, click here.

Opioid Task Force Report

The report’s recommendations are organized according to audience. Part II addresses civil legal aid providers and LSC; Part III addresses the judiciary and law enforcement; and Part IV addresses treatment providers and public health officials.

Read the Report

Opioid Task Force Members

David Hoffman

Partner

Sidley Austin LLP

https://www.sidley.com/en/people/h/hoffman-david-h

Victor B. Maddox

LSC Board Member

Assistant Deputy Attorney General

/about-lsc/leadership/board-members/victor-b-maddox

Robert Grey, Jr.

LSC Board Member

President, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity

/about-lsc/leadership/board-members/robert-j-grey-jr

Opioid Task Force Members List

Kathryn Cates-Wessel
Chief Executive Officer
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry

Jay Chaudhary
Managing Attorney/Director of Medical-Legal Partnerships
Indiana Legal Services

Sally Friedman
Legal Director
Legal Action Center

Brandon George
Director
Indiana Addiction Issues Coalition

Jim Harbaugh*
Head Football Coach
University of Michigan

Stephanie Harris
Development Director
Ohio State Legal Services Association

Maha Jweied
Access to Justice Consultant
Former Acting Director, U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Access to Justice

Judge Patricia Keller
Family Court Judge, Sixth Family Court Circuit
State of West Virginia

Jenny Kim*
Deputy General Counsel, Political Law & Vice President, Public Policy
Koch Companies Public Sector LLC

Abby Kuzma
Former Assistant Attorney General and Chief Counsel for Victims Services and Outreach Division; Co-Founder
Office of the Indiana Attorney General; Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic

Ellen Lawton
Co-Director
National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership

Richard Lee
General Counsel
Civis Analytics

Patrick Murphy*
Former Undersecretary
United States Army

Cody Nelson
Executive Director
Anishinabe Legal Services

Dr. Robert Onders
Medical Director of Community and Health Systems Improvements
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

Richard Pogue*
Senior Advisor
Jones Day

Dr. Elizabeth Quinn
Family Physician & Associate Medical Director
Lynn Community Health Center

Rebecca Rapp
General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer, Ascendium Education Group
Former Judge, Dane County Circuit Court

Chief Justice Paul Reiber
Chief Justice
Vermont State Supreme Court

Julie Reiskin
Executive Director
Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition

Chief Justice Loretta Rush
Chief Justice
Indiana Supreme Court

Tarra Simmons
Skadden Fellow; Co-Chair
Public Defender Association; Washington Statewide Reentry Council

Radhika Singh
Director, Civil Legal Aid Initiatives
National Legal Aid and Defender Association

Deborah Taylor-Tate
Director; Co-Chair
Administrative Office of the Courts; National Judicial Opioid Task Force

Dr. Mishka Terplan
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Psychiatry, Associate Director of Addiction Medicine, and Medical Director of MOTIVATE
Virginia Commonwealth University

Joseph Winkels*
Partner
Carlson, Caspers

Adrienne Worthy
Executive Director
Legal Aid of West Virginia

Salle Yoo*
Former General Counsel
Uber

*Member of LSC Leaders Council

Learn More

Opioids

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LSC Task Forces

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 18:33:46 +0000

LSC Task Forces admin Tue, 04/13/2021 - 14:33

LSC's Task Forces

LSC’s task forces bring together leaders and experts from a variety of fields to address urgent issues, like disasters and the opioid and eviction crises, that relate to access to justice. Task forces also share best practices for legal aid providers serving key populations, like veterans.

Opioid Task Force

LSC’s Opioid Task Force developed guidance on how legal aid can work with medical, judicial, law enforcement, and community partners to address the opioid crisis.

LSC Opioid Task Force

Veterans Task Force

LSC’s Veterans Task Force explores how legal aid can expand access to justice for veterans by helping remove barriers to housing, health, and financial stability.

LSC Veterans Task Force

Housing Task Force

The Housing Task Force presents findings from LSC’s Eviction Study and raises awareness of evictions, foreclosures, and housing instability affecting communities.

Housing Task Force

Rural Justice Task Force

The Task Force addresses rural legal needs, highlights effective service models, and suggests ways to engage attorneys in providing support to isolated communities.

Rural Justice Task Force

Disaster Task Force

LSC’s Disaster Task Force promotes stronger coordination and planning to ensure low-income survivors of natural disasters receive timely and effective legal help.

LSC Disaster Task Force

Technology Disasters Housing / Evictions Opioids Native American Rural Veterans

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