Intersections between Mental Health and Law among Veterans

Written by experts in the field, this book addresses the serious and increasingly public concern over the mental health of veterans after military deployment. It examines the intersection of criminal and civil legal issues with mental problems in the veteran population and describes various effective programs that have been developed to address these issues. It includes a wide range of useful topics examining the particular criminal justice problems faced by vets, such as sexual abuse and violence as well as the legal institutions that have been established to handle these problems, such as veterans courts, family courts, and the Veterans Justice Outreach program. The book also provides coverage of special groups such as women and homeless veterans. It is a concise but comprehensive view of this salient topic that is useful for students, practitioners, and policy makers. 

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 154^th 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.