Dear Thay,
I'm sorry that it has taken so long to reply as I have only just noticed your posting.
To undertake prison chaplaincy depends on the country in which you live.
Even here in Australia, the laws are different in each state. However, the Buddhist Councils of New South Wales and Victoria recruit both lay and monastic chaplains. I find that many of my inmates are of Vietnamese background are serving sentences for drug related crimes. They certainly need and appreciate chaplains especially if they speak Vietnamese. Many have little or no English. You may be interested to read my article on http://wwwbuddhismaustralia.org/bbbars.htm This relates some of my experiences.
Namo Adida Phat
Be happy,
Graeme

Hi Thay,
It was about eight years ago when I was chair of the Buddhist Council of New South Wales, that I had a 'phone call from a Christian Chaplain at a Sydney gaol telling me that he had a prisoner who was a Buddhist and requested a Buddhist to visit him and talk about his problems. After visiting this prisoner, I applied to the Government to be accredited as a Buddhist Chaplain. You can read about some of my experiences on http://www.buddhismaustralia.org/bbbars.htm In Australia, no religion is allowed to try to convert prisoners but we can talk to prisoners of our own religion or those who want to learn more. I have many prisoners who were Christian but are not interested in it anymore and find Buddhism very appealing. They like to regard Buddhism as a peaceful way of life rather than a religion.
Be happy,
Graeme

Dear Thay,
Welcome to Peacenext. I have been a Buddhist for 58 years and now do voluntary work as a Buddhist Chaplain to prisoners in New South Wales gaols. I find it very rewarding as well as sad to see so many good lives destroyed by commiting mistakes which have landed them in gaol. I am fortunate in that I have studied most traditions of Buddhism. This is useful in the prison system because if an inmate is from a Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean or Japanese background, I can teach them the Mahayana but if they are Thai, Cambodian, Sri Lankan or Lao I can teach them Theravada. To Anglo-Europeans I can teach them a combination of both great traditions. Meditation is important to prisoners as they live in a very stressful situation.
Yours in the Dharma,
Graeme