Veterans Affairs to advocate for legal guardianship for some vets
Source: msn/WSJ
10h
The Trump administration has moved to establish legal guardianship for some homeless veterans, which could include involuntary or institutional mental health and drug addiction care. Under an agreement announced Wednesday, the Justice Department can appoint Veterans Affairs attorneys as special assistant U.S. attorneys to act in state courts, in cases where patients dont have family to step in.
That will give them legal authority to initiate and participate in state court guardianship or conservatorship proceedings in cases where a legal decision maker is required, the Justice Department said. The VA said the guardianships may be needed for roughly 700 veterans stuck in the system.
Conservatorships are legal arrangements where someone appointed by a judge takes responsibility over another person. The person appointed is usually a close family member. The new system would allow the VA to initiate and take part in the legal process.
The change comes after President Trump last summer issued an executive order that called for an increase in hospitalizations, even if involuntary, to reduce homelessness and vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks in the U.S. Critics of involuntary civil-commitment programs argue they violate civil liberties and stigmatize mental illness.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/veterans-affairs-to-advocate-for-legal-guardianship-for-some-vets/ar-AA1YqnXz
AnnaLee
(1,378 posts)Will they try to use veterans to get communities to setup and fund warehouses that they will claim they can use for any need they have?
Tanuki
(16,421 posts)especially so they will not be seen during World Cup and 250th US Anniversary events. This is mass incarceration by another name.
https://www.osvnews.com/trumps-executive-order-seeks-to-remove-homeless-from-streets-via-civil-commitment/
"....In July 2019, during his first presidential term, Trump declared that an embarrassment: When we have leaders of the world coming in to see the president of the United States and theyre riding down a highway, they cant be looking at that.
Executive order
On July 24 of this year [2025] , Trump signed a new executive order, Ending Crime and Disorder on Americas Streets. And while that sounds like a worthy goal, advocates say blaming the homeless unfairly and dangerously criminalizes being unhoused, mentally ill or addicted in America.
....
It seems to be leaning into uncited science or perspectives about the failure of harm reduction and the failure of Housing First, observed Kelly, who spent years working with Chicagoans experiencing homelessness. It seems to be falling back into a regressive perspective that was more or less both anecdotally and scientifically proven to be ineffective in terms of really helping people, which is civil commitment.... (more)