Intersections between Mental Health and Law among Veterans

Jack Tsai, PhD., is a Clinical Psychologist for the Critical Time Intervention program at Veterans Affairs (VA) Connecticut and a Core Investigator for the VA New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC). He serves as full-time faculty at Yale University School of Medicine and is Director of the Yale Division of Mental Health Services Research. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles and received federal grants for his work on homelessness, incarceration, severe mental illness, and trauma among U.S. veterans. Dr. Tsai also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, and serves leadership roles in the American Public Health Association and the American Psychological Association. Evan Seamone, LL.M., J.D., M.P.P., is an Attorney for the Veterans Legal Clinic at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School. He is also a Major in the U.S. Army Reserve with duties as a Senior Defense Counsel in the 154th Legal Services Organization. Prior to joining Harvard Law School, he was a Professor and Director of the Legal Writing Program at Mississippi College School of Law. During active duty, he served in the Pentagon as a Prosecutor with the Chief Prosecutor of Military Commissions supporting the prosecution of cases involving terrorism. He has written extensively about treatment-based sentencing alternatives in military courts-martial and civilian veterans treatment and mental health problem-solving courts.

Introduction.- Criminal justice involvement among veterans.-  VA criminal justice programs.- Medical-legal partnerships in the VA.-  Veterans treatment courts.- Family courts for veterans.- All-Veteran Service Units.- Courts-martial and military discharges.- Veterans with Sexual Offenses.- Special populations: Women, Homeless, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.