Meet Claire James

On May 5, 2020, GivingTuesday, VOLS volunteer and Board member Claire James hosted a meet & greet with leadership from Volunteers of Legal Service. For several years, Claire has volunteered through the VOLS Incarcerated Mothers Law Project to advise women, who are incarcerated in New York prisons and jails, on how to maintain critical family ties with their children.

Following were Claire’s opening remarks:

I really appreciate everyone making the time this evening, as I understand how current circumstances have stretched everyone’s time and sanity.

I have been involved with Volunteers of Legal Services, aka VOLS, for about 8 years, and have been working on the Incarcerated Mothers Law Project with the organization since Kermit was born. The project resonated with me for two reasons. The first, was that as a new mother, the prospect of not being with my child and not having the means to know in real time whether he was safe, cared for and happy was really scary. The second was an understanding (at least an intellectual understanding) of the access to justice issues inherent in being incarcerated.  

Among other things, the VOLS clinic is the difference between women having visits with their kids, understanding what it means to lose their parental rights (which, if it happens, means that a parent has same rights to their child as a stranger would, i.e. none), knowing their rights when it comes to child support and what their various options may look like in terms of childcare while they are incarcerated.  

While it is normally difficult for me to fathom what it is like to be one of these women, separated from her children, it is especially difficult to fathom during this pandemic. Visitation and programming at Rikers have ceased, and considering it took a couple months to get mail to the facility before Covid, it is hard to imagine how long it is taking now.

I am so grateful to VOLS for giving me the opportunity to help such a vulnerable population in a responsible way. Ellen Rosenberg, whom you will hear from, supervises the clinic and knows all there is to know about family law and some of the related issues with which this population contends. And at the end of last year, I joined the organization’s Board, which has given me a better understanding of the many other projects the organization runs.  

Thanks again to all of you for coming and please do spread the word to others you know in case they are able to utilize the many services VOLS is providing to those in need!

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT VOLS’ COVID-19 EMERGENCY RESPONSE