Since 1985, CLAIM has served thousands of women and their families on family law cases, won the establishment of Illinois’ first community-based mother-infant program for mothers convicted of nonviolent offenses to bond with their babies while addressing the root cause of their offenses, and made Illinois the first State in the nation to outlaw the dangerous practice of placing women in labor in shackles and chain-belts and shackling them to their hospital beds.  We celebrated CLAIM’s 20th anniversary in the Fall of 2005. 

 

LEGAL SERVICES

CLAIM provides legal advice and representation so that mothers can prevent their incarceration from causing the permanent destruction of their families. We enforce legal rights such as mother-child visits, guardianship for children, and reuniting mothers and children after mothers’ successful reentry to the community. CLAIM provides intensive legal counseling to help incarcerated mothers make sound, realistic decisions about their children’s placement and their families’ future. 

 

ON-SITE 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

 

Classes providing basic information on family law enable CLAIM to assist more parents than can be served individually.  Class topics and practical tips help women help themselves, and include placement issues, short-term and court-ordered guardianship, the foster care system, termination of parental rights, domestic relations law and the “best interest of the child” standard. 

 

VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS

JAIL FAMILY LAW CLINIC

Thank you so very much for the short-term guardian forms.  They were great. My granddaughter went to school the next day because of you!                                                   

—  Leslie B., grandmother

 

CLAIM needs help getting to mothers in Jail with timely legal advice!  Volunteer lawyers, and law students with their Section 711 licenses, conduct intake interviews for mothers in the Cook County Jail.  In this way, we reduce the waiting period and give women vital information about children’s placement options sooner.  A monthly pizza night gives volunteers the opportunity to learn from one another and develop professionally.  We ask Jail Family Law Clinic volunteers to make a commitment to interview two women each month, usually a 2-4 hour time commitment monthly.  Join us March 31 for an intensive family law training session by contacting Molly Sharma at MollySharma@aol.com. 

           

THE JAIL PROJECT

I understand more of what my rights are, and what can and cannot be done in the courtroom.  The class really helps us get a better understanding of the court system.     

  — Regina C.

 

Jail Project volunteers teach classes on the criminal court system and family law to women in Cook County Jail on Saturdays.  The women learn vital information to help them participate in their defense and get fair treatment in court.  Students receive a certificate upon completing the course and passing a final examination.  This gives the women a sense of accomplishment and pride all too rare in the jail setting.  Each teaching team includes a criminal defense lawyer.  

 

 

THE PANEL PROGRAM

The lawyer explained everything beautifully.  She was with us every step of the way. 

—  Eddie W., grandfather

 

CLAIM extends its impact by recruiting, training and coordinating a pool of volunteer lawyers and paralegals. Panel Program volunteers provide pro bono representation on family law cases.  CLAIM assigns cases and supports volunteers with malpractice insurance, training in family law, mentoring, and clerical services. The Panel Program serves more clients and also exposes lawyers who work in corporate settings to women prisoners and their families, an experience that can be a powerful education and advocacy tool.   CLAIM volunteers:   

•           petition the Court to appoint an appropriate guardian for the children,

•           petition the Court for discharge of a guardian when a mother has established a safe, stable home for the children and guardianship is no longer necessary,

•           assist in enforcement of mother-child visitation rights,

•           help effect family reunification and represent parents in divorce or custody proceedings.

 

ADVOCACY PROJECT

Visible Voices, a central component of the Advocacy Project, is a women’s peer support group working for personal and systemic change.  Advocacy Project staff who are formerly imprisoned run the group.  Former prisoners address individual re-entry issues and the wider policy issues that affect them and their families.  A major step to self-determination is the decision to change the patterns and behaviors that led to incarceration.  Visible Voices provides a forum for discussion, information, support, and sharing of resources and referrals.  It forges connections to national and international advocacy groups that provide a larger context for change and give hope not only about the possibility of change, but the about women’s role in bringing it about.  Through advocating for others, the women empower themselves, build leadership skills, improve self-esteem and create a significant sense of accomplishment. 

 

Visible Voices members make themselves visible in the community through the Speakers Bureau, which provides training on communications skills and public speaking, and coordinates speaking dates at various events and forums.  By speaking to civic, church, educational, and community groups, we educate the public while empowering women who have for the most part been invisible and voiceless.  We connect women who want to do media interviews with interested journalists and programs.  In the year 2000, Visible Voices worked with the Women’s International Information Project to create their own video.  The resulting award-winning videotape, What We Leave Behind, challenges stereotypes about women in prison and examines the impact of their incarceration on their children.  It demonstrates the power of disenfranchised groups to shape their own media images.

 

CLAIM is at the forefront of the Illinois Task Force for Children of Prisoners, Children of Promise.  In March, 2005, we brought together advocacy and social service organizations, corrections officials, child welfare administrators, public health officials and families affected by incarceration for an intensive learning experience, drawing on the expertise of nationally known experts with help from the National Institute of Corrections.  In 2006 we began work on the national Children’s Bill of Rights initiative, and we continue to work on this initiative with Soros Senior Justice Fellow Dee Ann Newell.

 

CLAIM is a not-for-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status; donations are tax-deductible as defined by law.  We receive no government funding but rely on foundations, law firms, corporations and individuals to fund vital services and advocacy otherwise unavailable for these women and families.  We welcome and appreciate new funding partners in our work.