How Homeless Veterans Can Access Free Legal Help Through the West Virginia Law Clinic

0:06Leah Bucholz Hey, guys. It's Leah Bucholz from Prestige Veteran Medical Consulting. I'm a US Army veteran, physician assistant, and former compensation and pension examiner. So today, I have my friend Ash Talbot on, and I'm super excited because we have some really great info to put out for you guys. Ash is a an accredited claims agent, and she she is, I believe, the first in West Virginia.

0:28 Is that is that correct?

0:29Ash Talbott That is correct. I was the first person to take the examination in West Virginia.

0:34Leah Bucholz Okay. And and you do a lot of really great exciting things. So we're gonna do a few different videos together. But can you tell us a little bit about yourself and and kinda how you got into this area of practice?

0:45Ash Talbott Sure. If I told you it was by chance, it was totally by chance.

0:50Leah Bucholz Okay.

0:51Ash Talbott Come out of law school, I needed a job, and the job I got at the time, it was not a great economy for lawyers. It was during the two thousand seven recession. And the job I got was at a VA disability firm, and I fell madly in love with it. And I have never left the practice. Mhmm.

1:14 So it's been twenty years.

1:17Leah Bucholz Well and and I know we're gonna touch on this in a in a later video, but just briefly, do you wanna tell the folks what you do kind of at the, you know, with the baby lawyers that you work with now?

1:28Ash Talbott The baby lawyers. Yes. I am the codirector of the WU Veterans Legal Advocacy Clinic at West Virginia University, College of Law School, where we work with veterans through a specific grant and donations of hundreds of people that aim tirelessly to keep our clinic funded. The grant is the LSVH grant. It is the legal services for veterans grant for homelessness.

2:04Leah Bucholz That's wonderful. And and, again, we're gonna talk, at a later date a little bit more about some of the services you can get in legal clinics. But today, we were gonna just jump on this specifically on the one you just mentioned and talk about homelessness grants and assistance for veteran populations. So, I just have a few questions for you. So first first and foremost, what the VA homelessness assistance program, what what assistance is available to veterans right now?

2:36Ash Talbott The assistance available to veterans right now is through legal services grants. Community service providers, stakeholders in the community, we take the responsibility away from the VA to provide legal services for veterans. We take their funding so we can fund our clinic, and we can provide the best services for veterans in the state of West Virginia.

3:02Leah Bucholz Okay. Do you guys help veterans just in West Virginia, or can can veterans from Virginia, for example, come over and get assistance?

3:10Ash Talbott Yeah. Veterans from Virginia can come over and get assistance. We have lots of veterans from Virginia Mhmm. Because of my proximity to Virginia.

3:20Leah Bucholz Okay.

3:22Ash Talbott Lots of veterans from Maryland, Pennsylvania because we're in that little niche area of West Virginia where we touch so many areas of lives. Sure.

3:34Leah Bucholz So do do veterans have to already be homeless to qualify for assistance? Or

3:39Ash Talbott No. That's one of the best things about this grant is it actually takes those who are at risk of homelessness. So we can prevent that harm from coming to the veteran by giving them pro, advocate services. We can do things like homelessness. We can do civil litigation.

4:02 Okay. We do a lot of family law stuff. Getting court orders, getting child custody agreements, getting spousal agreements modified can be a huge way to prevent homelessness in the veteran population.

4:18Leah Bucholz Do you guys coordinate with other services as well to provide assistance, like, you know, different types of benefits, you know, for housing and Yes. Things like that?

4:32Ash Talbott We're very, very involved with our local stakeholder community. We know most of our housing, assistance officers in West Virginia. That way we can get in and and really get, like, VA VASH things going on for veterans. If they need help in a hurry, it's always good to know have that right set of people that we've surrounded ourselves with. This is not a new clinic by any means.

5:01 You know, we're we're five years into my tenure as co director.

5:08Leah Bucholz So And on I know I'm going off topic a little bit. I just all these questions are coming to mind. Do you guys assist with you know, there's a big veteran population that is incarcerated too. So when they're when they're coming, you know, rehabilitating and kinda getting back to life, do you help those veterans as well?

5:26Ash Talbott We're more than willing to help veterans who have been incarcerated. Mhmm. Everybody deserves a second chance. Mhmm. There are limitations on what we can do criminally as far as a legal clinic goes.

5:41Leah Bucholz Argumentation. Yeah.

5:42Ash Talbott Definitely, we definitely help those who have been incarcerated previously. We don't we don't hold any sort of grudge or judgment for those veterans. We're just trying to help as many veterans as we can, ensure that they have a life that's worth living.

6:00Leah Bucholz That's amazing. It's really wonderful to know that you guys are providing these resources, and I can't wait until our next video as well where we kinda delve in a little bit more to the specifics of what you guys do. But setting that aside, what are what are some of the first steps veterans should take if they are facing housing instability or, need resources?

6:24Ash Talbott Ask for help. The first thing that you can do is ask for help. Find out what who are your local stakeholders in your community. Mhmm. Do you have a law school in your area?

6:36 Do you have other pro bono services in your area like legal aid that you might be able to utilize that's receiving these grants that they can help you? Because the amount and range of services can vary so much that you may need multiple agencies to help you.

6:58Leah Bucholz Well and and I'm definitely gonna as long as you're fine with it, I'm sure you are, I'm gonna put, some contact information for y'all's legal clinic in the in the video here. And and while you may not be able to help all states, I'm sure if a veteran reached out to you, you may be able to point them in the direction of a local resource in their state.

7:16Ash Talbott Absolutely.

7:18Leah Bucholz Not that you know everybody, but you probably know how to figure out, you know, the first direction to point them. So setting setting that aside as well, what are the eligibility requirements to determine whether a veteran qualifies for housing or homelessness assistance?

7:34Ash Talbott Simply put, if they are at risk of becoming homeless, if they have incomes instability for whatever reason, if they're facing a sudden loss of employment, if they're facing a sudden loss of income, if they're facing a new health crisis. Like you said, oftentimes, incarceration, leaving a vulnerable, state such as leaving a residence, an eviction, anything like that, all of that will qualify and spark off the eligibility Mhmm. Determination.

8:09Leah Bucholz Okay. So now as far as eligibility is concerned, I know it gets kinda tricky to, with characterization of discharge. Is that something that it it is it just, like, on a case by case issue that you guys look at that, or is there, like, a hard and fast

8:27Ash Talbott It is a case by case determination for character of discharge determinations just because it's so dynamic. It's such and it's something that's controversial when it doesn't need to be. Mhmm. Veterans need assistance. Mhmm.

8:46 Discharge upgrades are part of that assistance that they need. Yeah. It's determining. It's it's scarring, and it's personally accountable to our our being, that determination. So it shouldn't be controversial. We should help veterans risk achieve the honorable discharges that they deserve.

9:09Leah Bucholz Well, and I and that was gonna be another question I had for you without the risk of segueing into other topics. I'm sure that's part of your holistic thing that you work with veterans on is if if you can help with some of their character of discharge things, that might be something the legal clinic works with as well.

9:25Ash Talbott It is.

9:26Leah Bucholz That's that's so wonderful that you guys kinda touch in so many different areas to affect veterans' lives, especially the the population that probably needs you the most. Right? So does the veteran's disability rating percentage or their service connected status affect the the eligibility of any of these programs?

9:44Ash Talbott No. It does not. Because as you could imagine, typically, veterans disability would be enough income that it would prevent you from being eligible for things like this. So they do not take it away, eligibility based on your disability income or income at all. It's actually not a factor.

10:04 They look at the holistic determination when they're determining eligibility of a veteran.

10:10Leah Bucholz Sure. So what are some of the documents or or types of information that you wanna look at or the clinic wants to look at, that veterans should have available or try to have available when applying for housing assistance?

10:23Ash Talbott Yeah. We need that d d two fourteen. We need that discharge document. Whether it's good or bad, you gotta get it to us. We've gotta get a baseline to establish where you're at.

10:35 For sure. Start there, and then get us income documents.

10:39Leah Bucholz Okay. Then

10:41Ash Talbott from there, you know, the Yeah.

10:45Leah Bucholz Income documents, health documents. I'm sure maybe, like, anything related to, I mean, if they've been evicted and things like that, are are these, like, barriers to yeah.

10:57Ash Talbott Anything like that is gonna be a barrier to obtaining future housing, and that's why it's important for us to have it.

11:08Leah Bucholz Yeah. And I'm sure it's not a showstopper. It's just stuff you guys really need to be able to try to, like, navigate effectively and get them the best possible outcome.

11:17Ash Talbott Right? You know, nothing's a showstopper.

11:20Leah Bucholz Okay.

11:20Ash Talbott You've been doing this long enough. Nothing's a showstopper. You just hear new stuff.

11:25Leah Bucholz Yeah. You hear new stuff, and you gotta, like, find a creative way to get a solution, for the situation.

11:32Ash Talbott That's it.

11:32Leah Bucholz So how how quickly if a veteran is, like, super in need, how quickly can they get assistance from you guys?

11:41Ash Talbott Timelines can be a little bit trying in this sort of realm because we are working with students.

11:48Leah Bucholz Okay.

11:50Ash Talbott So this clinic is only full in the fall and the spring. So summertime is kind of a no go.

11:59Leah Bucholz Now are there emergency, like, resources that you work with to help? Like, maybe not legal resources, right, but emergency community that can say, like, here here is I don't wanna say here's just a check to get you through the month for how's you know, there's benefit programs that will help you get somebody out of a really hot situation.

12:19Ash Talbott Yes. There are.

12:21Leah Bucholz Okay. And and I'm sure you reach out to them quite frequently.

12:24Ash Talbott Yes. We do. Because you don't wanna leave somebody in a situation that's gonna be detrimental to their health, their well-being, or at all. You wanna get them out of that and put them in a better place. That way they can thrive.

12:40Leah Bucholz Okay. That's that's pretty great. And then can people contact you? I mean, if somebody emails or calls you guys, do you guys usually especially if they have a really, really urgent need, do you guys get back to them pretty quickly? How do you triage that?

12:56Ash Talbott Typically, we we triage stuff pretty pretty rapid pace. K. We have a full time staff member in the clinic. We we have me. Mhmm.

13:08 So, I mean, I respond to emails constantly all day. You know, you'll get me really quick usually in the summer because I don't have students.

13:19Leah Bucholz Okay. It's a

13:21Ash Talbott lot easier for me. So, yeah, in the summertime, you're gonna get along with me. In the in the fall, the winter, it's all students, and it's it's a lot for our veterans some days. But we do our best, and we take things as quick as we can, and that's the honest truth. We move as quick as we can.

13:47 Okay. Because we don't wanna make mistakes. We don't wanna do things that are detrimental to people.

13:52Leah Bucholz So what so what are some of the most common mistakes that you see veterans making when they're when they're re like, look reaching out for homelessness assistance?

14:03Ash Talbott The most common mistake is they don't ask for the help that they need. Ask for the help you need. Mhmm. You know, don't beat feet around the bush. Ask for what you need.

14:14 If you need help getting an eviction cleared, ask for that. Yeah. It's embarrassing, but ask for it. Maybe that's the help that you need. We can get it off your record. Maybe it's income assistance. Maybe you desperately need income assistance, and you're struggling with Social Security disability and veterans disability. Mhmm. But that's the assistance you need. Ask for it.

14:35 Don't be embarrassed. Just ask for the help you need. That way we can get you what you need.

14:41Leah Bucholz It's just so amazing because a lot of veterans just probably don't even know that you guys exist and that you're available to, like, provide. And not just you, but just state agencies or state law clinics that can can do these kind of things for the veteran population.

14:56Ash Talbott Yeah. It's it's always interesting, how well kept a secret we can be. Mhmm. Mhmm. You know, we should be screaming it from the hilltops.

15:07Leah Bucholz Yeah. And, so what about for dependents and family members? Is there any kind of special housing assistant options available for, veterans that have, like for the those dependents and kids, spouses, disabled parents, that fall under them?

15:27Ash Talbott Yes. Now there's extra income benefits to, veterans with disability for disabled spouses, for dependent parents Mhmm. And for dependent children, even adult dependent children.

15:40Leah Bucholz Mhmm.

15:42Ash Talbott There is extra income allowed for that to help offset those costs for you. And that's that's the extra benefit. Aside from that, I'm not really sure of any other big housing benefit for dependents. K.

16:03Leah Bucholz What about veterans with substance abuse, comorbid substance abuse issues? Do you guys work with agencies and kinda get involved and help with that kind of stuff as well?

16:15Ash Talbott Yeah. We have managed to steer clear of agency issues, substance issues in our clinic because substance abuse is treated so differently in the Bible Belt. Mhmm. Mhmm. There is heavy prohibitions about what we're allowed to do in those terms.

16:39 Mhmm. So we have to be very mindful about any sort of

16:45Leah Bucholz Right.

16:46Ash Talbott Substance abuse issue.

16:47Leah Bucholz Right. But I'm sure you guys have some resources as well that you can point people in the direction of.

16:53Ash Talbott Yes.

16:53Leah Bucholz So what would you say to a veteran who's struggling? We've talked we talked about this a couple times already, but those veterans that are really struggling to reach out either because they're prideful or they're embarrassed or they're just defeated, Like, what kind of encouragement could you give them to just break through that and and kinda feel okay about reaching out?

17:16Ash Talbott You know, it won't be the most embarrassing thing that I've ever heard. Mhmm. It won't be the worst story I've ever heard. And I'll probably be able to figure out a way to help you, but I can only do that if I know what your story is. Yeah.

17:32Leah Bucholz It it's super tough. I think we've all been in situations where we feel embarrassed or too proud or or whatever, but it's like everybody puts their pants on one leg at a time, and and we're all here

17:45Ash Talbott to I'm an army veteran just like the rest of them. I'm stubborn and proudful and all those things rolled into one. Mhmm. We know how it goes.

17:57Leah Bucholz Well, I I'm very, like, honored and grateful to have you here with us. I'm I'm grateful to have met you and come across your path and work with you on different cases, and, you know, thank you for everything you do for the veteran community and for your service. Do you have any other kinda parting words for our our friends here? Like I said, we're gonna leave your contact info, the clinic's contact info in the comments here of our video. But do you have anything else you wanna say to the folks out there?

18:27Ash Talbott Get hold of us. Even if you're not in our in our state, even if you're not in our area or region, you know, get hold of us. Chances are, I know a law school in your area that has a clinic. Mhmm. And I probably even know the director, or I can find their director, and we can get ahold of them and get you help too.

18:47Leah Bucholz Alright. Well, thank you for being with us, Ash. And, everybody out there, thank you for watching. Please drop some comments and let us know if you have any, insight or feedback or things you wanna share. And, please like and subscribe, and we'll see you guys next time.

19:00 Alright.