The California Women’s Law Center is excited to launch two new projects focused on the unique healthcare needs of female veterans funded by Swords to Plowshares, a non-profit veterans service organization.  The funding is made possible through a re-grant from the California Wellness Foundation.

We are excited to partner with the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center in creating the California Women Veterans Legal Collaborative. The collaborative focuses on strengthening the system of care for women with a history of MST (military sexual trauma) by addressing multiple legal concerns related to their assaults. We will also focus on discharge determinations and ensuring that female veterans receive all their benefits. The collaborative will also create a statewide legal assistance resource center that will provide private pro bono legal services and technical support, training and assistance. The Women Veterans Legal Collaborative aims to build expert knowledge, data, and capacity to deal with the unique legal challenges facing women veterans who experience MST.

Swords to Plowshares has also funded a project designed to ensure women veterans have access to necessary health care services. The goal of the Eliminating Health Barriers Project is to work directly with female veterans, veteran advocates, healthcare professionals, and other key informants to gather robust data. This data will be used to identify new barriers and provide solutions for well-documented problems that female veterans face when they seek health care. CWLC and our partners will conduct focus group discussions with female veterans about health barriers and potential solutions to overcome these obstacles in discussions to be held statewide. Our research will also integrate interviews with veteran advocates and healthcare professionals. This information will be gathered to produce a policy report with specific legislative recommendations based on our findings. We are proud to partner with organizations that have demonstrated success and experience supporting female veterans including the California Statewide Collaborative for our Military Families, San Francisco Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Women Veterans Strategic Alliance, Inc., and Twenty and Four, Honor Society of Women Legionnaires.

On August 31st, the Eliminating Health Barriers Project team met for the first time in San Jose, California.  See below for pictures from our first meeting.

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VIEW: The complete set of photos on our Facebook page

READ: The Swords to Plowshares Grant Announcement