New Haven — The Connecticut Veterans Legal Center on Thursday awarded U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the 2017 Veterans Justice Award for his commitment to the state's veterans.

CVLC highlighted Murphy's work to provide mental health and behavioral services to former service members who served in combat and who received other-than-honorable discharges, applauding him for helping to raise awareness of how so-called bad paper discharges create life-threatening problems for veterans.

The center has represented vets who believe their discharge status failed to fairly reflect the impact of mental health conditions on their actions, and has filed hundreds of claims for upgrading discharge status with the Department of Defense.

"Every day, CVLC helps Connecticut veterans recovering from homelessness and mental illness get back on their feet. I'm grateful for their work and honored to earn their recognition," Murphy said in a statement.