The VOLS Incarcerated Mothers Law Project recruits and trains pro bono lawyers to counsel incarcerated mothers on Rikers Island, the city's main jail, and at two state prisons: Bayview Correctional Facility, located in Manhattan at 550 West 20th Street, and Taconic Correctional Facility located in Bedford Hills in Westchester County. Pro bono lawyers in the project provide one-on-one legal counseling to mothers on child custody and visiting issues and participate in conducting legal information sessions for groups of mothers on their rights and responsibilities as to their children while incarcerated.

Volunteer lawyers participating in the project need not have prior family law experience, since the project provides training and mentoring by an experienced family law attorney. A training manual is provided. Of course, lawyers with family law experience are welcome! The training will introduce volunteer lawyers to the child welfare system and laws of custody in New York; and cover issues of visiting for children in foster care and living with other caregivers. The impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act on incarcerated parents will be discussed. Discussion will focus specifically on the intersection of the child welfare and criminal justice systems.

On Rikers Island there are mothers of young children who are sentenced misdemeanants, serving a year or less for a non-violent offense, or awaiting trial as detainees. Taconic is a medium security state prison for women inmates and Bayview is a state prison for women where many of the inmates participate in work release programs. Thus, the project works with mothers entering the correctional system (Rikers), serving time in prison (Taconic), and preparing to leave the system (Bayview).

Lawyers who wish to register for the training session and participate in the Incarcerated Mothers Law Project, or would like additional information, should contact Sara Effron at Volunteers of Legal Service. In your email, please include your contact information and briefly describe your legal background and your interest in this project. seffron@volsprobono.org Telephone: (212) 966-4400, ext. 2104 Fax: (212) 219-8943