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

Videos

LSC Opioid Task Force Announcement

LSC Chair John G. Levi announced the creation of LSC Opioid Task Force at an LSC forum in 2018.

Watch now

Videos

Congressional briefing: How Medical-Legal Partnerships Assist Victims of Opioid Addiction

LSC’s congressional briefing on April 11, 2018, looked at MLPs’ role in confronting the opioid crisis.

Watch now

Videos

Statement from former Rep. Susan Brooks (IN-5) on Opioid Task Force

Former Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks explained the importance of the Opioid Task Force’s mission.

Watch now

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

Disaster Task Force

LSC’s Disaster Task Force worked to promote better cooperation, coordination and communication to ensure that low-income disaster survivors receive the legal assistance they need.

Learn more

Opioid Task Force

LSC’s Opioid Task Force created recommendations on how legal aid providers can collaborate with the medical, judicial, law enforcement and other communities to confront the opioid crisis.

Learn more

Veterans Task Force

LSC's Veterans Task Force works to increase access to justice for veterans and explore how legal aid can remove barriers to their well-being and financial stability.

Learn more

Housing Task Force

The Housing Task Force will highlight the findings of LSC’s Eviction Study and raise awareness about the devastating impact of illegal evictions and foreclosures, housing instability related to manufactured homes and long-term motel rentals, and housing issues compounded or caused by other vulnerabilities.

Learn more

Rural Justice Task Force

The Task Force will raise awareness about the civil legal needs of rural residents and the challenges associated with providing high-quality legal services in rural areas; profile model programs and approaches to providing effective legal services and information to Americans living in rural or remote communities; and recommend strategies for engaging private attorneys to serve rural clients.

Learn more

Disasters Housing / Evictions Native American Opioids Rural Technology Veterans

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richardsons@lsc.gov