Women in Transition was conceived as an action project of the California Commission on the Status of Women. The purpose of the project was to test the effectiveness of community volunteers in providing much-needed services to women incarcerated in the county jail. Findings were varied. Community women were interested in the women in jail and did not violate the security of the facility. They were able to relate to inmates despite many differences and were helpful as paraprofessional counselors. Volunteers needed to be motivated by factors beyond usual satisfactions; continuous recruitment and training of new volunteers required a great deal of effort. In addition, the project acted as a catalyst for new programs for ex-offender women in the community as well as being useful as a focus for community education. (BN)