VIP Attorneys Mentor CYA Inmates

Half a dozen lawyers in Ventura County are working for free--at least some of the time.

Every month, a few local attorneys donate a few hours to Volunteers in Parole, which matches them with California Youth Authority inmates in Camarillo in a one-on-one mentoring program.

After a VIP lawyer is matched with an inmate, the volunteer visits the youngster at the CYA’s Youth Correctional Facility on visiting day.

Some of the youths have never had a visitor, said Robert Davidson, a Ventura attorney and VIP volunteer. “You may be their one contact with the outside world.”

“I said to one of the kids, ‘How did it go?’ ” said Mary O’Gorman, VIP program director. “He said, ‘I can’t believe that guy came out here to see me.’

“It’s a little bit of an outside support system--something some of these kids have never had,” O’Gorman said.

The national VIP mentor program is run along the lines of the Big Brother / Big Sister programs, she said, with one big exception: the VIP mentoring program kicks in after the kids have gotten in serious trouble with the law and are incarcerated.

“There’s no magic here,” said Tina Rasnow, a Conejo Valley attorney. “My purpose is just to make a human connection. These kids have had such awful lives. For some of them, no one’s ever shown them any human kindness without wanting something in return.

“I know the odds are stacked, but I’m still their friend. Maybe a role model.”

Rasnow tries to make her visiting day special when she gets together with her match. “I try to bring a tablecloth, flowers and lunch. Something pretty.

“My match will usually write to me and tell me what she likes to eat. Usually it’s junk food.” Which is OK with Rasnow. “It’s their treat.”

O’Gorman agreed that the program offers no guaranteed solution.

“What I’ve witnessed on group day once a month is some behavior changes,” she said. “It’s sort of a microcosm of socialization. I can see it in how they talk, how they eat together.”

VIPs, she said, are not there to proselytize, but just to be friendly visitors to people who seldom have them.

For information on the program, attorneys may call 485-8080 or contact the California Youth Authority’s Youth Correctional Facility in Camarillo.