Client Education
The child custody classes were the most helpful because they helped me to keep my parental rights.
– Maria M., Dwight Correctional Center
I’m so grateful for this class and CLAIM itself! It gave me a clearer understanding and a sense of “knowledge is power”!
– Pam J., Lincoln Correctional Center
CLAIM regularly conducts on-site classes to women incarcerated in:
- Cook County Jail
- Decatur Correctional Center
- Lincoln Correctional Center
- Dwight Correctional Center
- Fox Valley Work Release Center
- Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago
We provide basic information on family law, enabling us to assist more women than we can serve in one-on-one sessions. Class topics include:
- Placement issues
- Short-term and court-ordered guardianship
- The foster care system
- Termination of parental rights
- Domestic relations law
- The “best interest of the child” standard.
We also provide practical tips and advice that empower the women to be their own advocates and to work through the legal system. We distribute Parental Rights and Responsibilities to everyone who attends these classes. To download a .pdf version of the booklet click here. You may download our Caregivers' Handbook for caregivers of children of incarcerated parents here. Please note that these booklets are no substitute for legal advice. For advice about a legal problem, contact us.
Create guardianships so children can stay with trusted caregivers, and out of the foster care system. Teach mothers in jail about family law and the best interest of the child. Host meetings for formerly imprisoned women. Testify at public hearings to win humane policy. Meet with corrections officials to make visits better for children. These are a few things that CLAIM staff and volunteers do to bring justice to incarcerated mothers and their children. You can help us make a difference. Please be as generous as possible.
Current Size: 100%
- Approximately 80% of the 16,239 women in Chicago’s Cook County Jail in 2004 were mothers.
- About 80% of women detained at Cook County Jail are charged with non-violent crimes.
Because children need their mothers.