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VOLUNTEER ALERT
JFON Feedback
Previous JFON volunteers, please send an e-mail to law-ichr@uiowa.edu and let us know how you found your experience with JFON. Did you enjoy the opportunity, or do you have suggestions for how we could improve?
IMMIGRATION WORK
Know Your Rights Presentations
ICHR is working in conjunction with the UI Center for Human Rights (UICHR) and the local organization Justice For Our Neighbors (JFON) in various outreach efforts to Iowa's immigrant community. We have succeeded in getting clearance from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to do a Know Your Rights Presentation for immigrant detainees at the Linn County Jail in Cedar Rapids. These presentations explains the rights and obligations of immigrant detainees under United States law. Following the presentation there is an intake session in which law students work with attorneys to assess potential immigration remedies for the inmates. This semester there are three presentations scheduled: February 21, March 28 and April 25. For more information contact law-ichr@uiowa.edu.
Immigration Intake Clinics
ICHR has partnered with JFON to help run monthly legal clinics focusing specifically on immigration issues. There are two clinics per month in which ICHR members participate, one in Cedar Rapids and the other in Columbus Junction. At these clinics, law-student volunteers have the opportunity to do client intakes and then sit in with the JFON attorney as she discusses the applicable law and the viable immigration options for the client. Many of the clients are Spanish speakers, so volunteers with language capabilities can be extremely helpful. For more information contact: law-ichr@uiowa.edu.
PUBLIC EDUCATION
Iowa Student Human Rights Initiative
ICHR will be launching a new initiative in 2008 to get high school students in the Iowa City Community School District and beyond involved in human rights. This online initiative will put human rights in terms teenagers can understand, highlight important and interesting issues, and suggest ways that students can help despite limited resources. We plan to do presentations at local schools in the spring, and possibly coordinate a student writing contest. If you would like to submit a brief (one-page) explanation of a human rights issue you care about, e-mail judith-faucette@uiowa.edu for guidelines.
PRISONERS' RIGHTS
ICHR has recently started working with the Department of Correctional Services/Community Corrections Improvement Association. Past projects include:
Mental Health Reentry Program
The Mental Health Reentry Program provides a high level of service, intensive supervision and support for offenders who have been diagnosed with chronic mental illness. The program is designed to have the maximum impact on recidivism of clients with co-occurring disorders, usually Axis 1 and substance abuse.
Restorative Justice Practices
Examples: Victim Offender Mediation/Conferencing, Victim Impact Classes, Circles of Support and Accountability, Victim support services, Community Service Activities for Offenders
Peer Court
Peer Review Court of Linn County is a voluntary diversion program for youth who commit misdemeanor offenses. It is an alternative to traditional juvenile justice in Linn County. Peer Court is a program in which juvenile offenders (respondents) are given restorative acts by a jury of their peers. We will be sending two to three students to Peer Court on the second Thursday of each month, starting in November. Students will work as mediators or judges to settle disputes between juveniles. Contact zak-toomey@uiowa.edu with questions.
Children of Promise
The Children of Promise mentoring program is on-on-one mentoring for children between the ages of 4 and 17 who have a parent who is incarcerated. 1 child is placed with an adult/advocate outside the system—the adult mentors and advises the child to assist in school & planning for future, and to break the cycle of incarceration faced by many families with a parent in prison.
For more information, contact: law-ichr@uiowa.edu
GENERAL COMMUNITY SERVICE
Shelter House
We pick an evening to volunteer at Shelter House, an area homeless shelter, and a group of students bring and prepare food for the residents. Shelter House can always use our support, and we look forward to volunteering again this year.
Volunteer Translation
Iowa Legal Aid is looking for help translating documents in a number of languages. If you speak a foreign language and would like to participate, e-mail lrosen@iowalaw.org with your name, the language(s) you speak, and your phone number. You will be asked to translate a short text to verify your ability, and then you will be contacted as assignments arise. You only need to take on as much work as you have time for, and hours count towards the Boyd Service Award.
Flood Relief
ICHR is volunteering for flood relief in Cedar Rapids on October 11th. If you would like to participate, fill out the form you received in your mailbox. The law school is providing transportation for this event.
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