A group led by volunteer female lawyers is helping mums who have ended up in prison. Aimee Muller reports.

When Debbie Smith started her four-year prison sentence in Auckland, her sons were aged just 4 and 14.

“I was really scared, I just stayed in my room and thought about my kids,” she said.

After two weeks, she saw a notice for the Mothers Project.

“I was first to put my name down, and overall, I think I put my name down three times.”

When a mother goes to prison in New Zealand, her child and family are also heavily impacted.

And with an estimated 85% of incarcerated women being mothers, and two-thirds of them being the sole caregiver, hundreds of children are affected.

That is where the Mothers Project steps in.

Since its establishment in 2015, led by volunteer female lawyers, the initiative has supported more than 1000 mothers in Aotearoa, across the three women’s prisons: Auckland, Arohata and Christchurch.

The core mission is to maintain positive and meaningful connections between mothers and their children.

“Often the mums just want to talk to you, explain their situation and get help with working out their next steps,” says Mothers Project Auckland volunteer Sarah Jack.

Auckland-based volunteer Sarah Jack (left) says often imprisoned mums "just want to talk to you".

The volunteer lawyers can assist mothers with anything from explaining their rights and obligations as a parent to helping them engage a family lawyer, or with phone calls and visits.

Many are desperate for updates, wanting to know where their kids are, so volunteers often make contact with caregivers or Oranga Tamariki on their behalf.

Running alongside the legal side of the service is a powerful literacy initiative called the Storybook Project.

Volunteers bring donated children’s books into the prisons and record mothers reading aloud.

The book and the recording get passed on to the child.

“It’s a way to still have the meaningful interaction with their child without physical contact,” said Jack.

Smith said talking to the volunteers helped her feel like more than just a prisoner.

“They made me feel seen and that no matter what, you’re still a mum.”

Supporting imprisoned mothers through paperwork.

While Smith didn’t get to take part in the Storybook Project during her time in prison, she would have leaped at the opportunity if she had known about it.

“[It] would give me a sense of connection with my son through my voice,” she said.

Jack said some of the mothers struggled with literacy, so taking part in the project allowed them to gain more confidence and reinforced to their children that they still valued reading and education.

According to Treasury data, children of prisoners are 10 times more likely to end up in prison themselves.

Pip Breitmeyer, a Christchurch volunteer, loves knowing that a small act for her, like paperwork filing, can make such a huge difference in someone’s life.

“We can make a big impact,” she said.

Pip Breitmeyer is a Christchurch-based senior legal counsel and Mothers Project volunteer.

So far, only the Auckland women’s prison in Wiri hosts the Storybook Project, with a similar concept under a different organisation running in Arohata, Wellington.

Breitmeyer wants to make it available at Christchurch women’s prison, but first needs more volunteers, book donations and approval from Corrections.

The deputy commissioner for women’s prisons, Kym Grierson, did not comment on whether this initiative would land in Christchurch, instead pointing to other initiatives, such as a group that helps mums and children during visiting time.