Legal clinic in Pine Bluff opens for veterans in state's southeast

Bill Wussick, assistant director for veterans cemeteries for the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, visits with Joyce Murry, an Arkansas National Guard family assistance specialist, at Thursday’s grand opening of the Pine Bluff Veterans Legal Clinic.
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Dale Ellis)
Bill Wussick, assistant director for veterans cemeteries for the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs, visits with Joyce Murry, an Arkansas National Guard family assistance specialist, at Thursday’s grand opening of the Pine Bluff Veterans Legal Clinic. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Dale Ellis)

PINE BLUFF -- Southeast Arkansas veterans in need of legal and other services will no longer need to travel to Little Rock to get those needs met.

Officials have opened the Pine Bluff Veterans Legal Clinic at 3206 S. Hazel Street in the First Assembly Life Center -- West Campus in Pine Bluff.

Initially, three local attorneys, Berlin Jones, a retired judge from the 11th Judicial Circuit; Eugene Hunt; and Mircha King will offer free legal assistance for veterans needing services related to family law, tenant-landlord issues, consumer protection, trying to seal a criminal record, or resolve other legal issues.

"Any type of family-related legal services, we are trying to make that available to our veterans," said Louise Sullivan, assistant to Mayor Shirley Washington. "We want to be a full spectrum of opportunities for our veterans to come to one place to seek the type of services they might need."

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The clinic will be open the second Thursday of each month from 9 a.m.-noon. Sullivan said those hours could possibly be expanded if the need is there, provided the capacity to do so can be summoned.

"We have to keep in mind that we are using attorneys who are not charging for their services and we have to be conscious of their time," she said. "That's why we're looking for some additional attorneys. We don't want to wear out our volunteers."

Bill Wussick, assistant director for Veteran Cemeteries with the state Department of Veterans Affairs, said the clinic will offer a wide range of other services as well for low-income veterans.

"We have our District Veteran Service Officer Sue Harper here, and she will be able to check on claims that we have power of attorney on through VFW/American Legion, on the status of those claims, answer claim questions, determine if there is a claim that needs to be filed for the veteran, and in some cases, even for the spouse with spousal benefits due to a veteran passing because of a service-connected disability," Wussick told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

"We also have here, [the] Central Arkansas Legal System, and they're going to provide pro bono work and legal assistance to veterans and families who just don't have the means to go out and pursue [the help] themselves."

Wussick said of particular concern is the number of suicides among Arkansas veterans. He said the Central Arkansas VA Health System Suicide Prevention Team will attend the monthly clinics to provide assistance and information for veterans struggling with mental illness.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are an estimated 214,000 veterans living in Arkansas. VA statistics show that 97 military veterans in Arkansas died by suicide in 2017, up from 79 the previous year. The suicide rate in 2017 among veterans in the state was 43.5 per 100,000 veterans, far higher than the national rate of 31 per 100,000.

By comparison, the suicide rate among nonveterans in Arkansas is 26.4 per 100,000 and nationally is 18.1 per 100,000.

"As you know, suicide, we just have too many suicides," he said. "In everything that the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs does on outreach, we try to provide a suicide prevention team here just to share information in the hope that someone in that crisis situation may get a phone number, get a contact, or get some assistance just by having them at the event sharing information on where the resources are at."

Arkansas Secretary of Veterans Affairs Col. Nathaniel Todd, a Pine Bluff native, said the vast majority of veterans living in Arkansas are doing well. But not all of them, he said.

"Ninety-eight percent, 99% of them are doing very well," Todd said. "But there are some veterans that struggle, and this clinic will help them."

He said the 1% or 2% of veterans that do need services are deserving of help.

"That veteran took an oath and he pledged his life. We're thankful for them coming back. But some of our veterans do not come back," Todd said. "And when they come back, war is hell. And they've been to hell and when they come back to this great state, they need help. I want you to provide that help."

After an opening ceremony last week, Todd said his office is working to get word out to veterans over a large part of the state that help is available for them in Pine Bluff.

"This is bigger than Pine Bluff," he said. "This is Southeast Arkansas and attorney Hunt and attorney Jones, they have committed to be here once a month, so we need those veterans who need these services across south Arkansas to find their way to Pine Bluff."

State Desk on 02/18/2020

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