Children of Promise, NYC

At Children of Promise, NYC, we support children ages 6-18, their families, and the incarcerated parent year-round through a free certified Article 31 Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, After School Program, Summer Day Camp, Saturday Resource Clinic, One-to-One Mentoring, Family Engagement, Teen Program, and Food Distribution Program. CPNYC provides mental health services on-site, 6-days a week by a team of psychiatrists, social workers, and creative arts therapists. Our children and families access the mental health clinic through enrollment in our After School Program and Summer Day Camp. Our children participate in programming Monday - Saturday and receive formalized instruction in STEM Learning, Literacy, Physical Education, and enrichment through field trips. Our model also reinforces the preservation of familial bonds by connecting children and their families with their incarcerated loved ones through personally written letters, pictures, and poems mailed out monthly. At all of our programming, we provide healthy meals and snacks through our onsite cafeteria, free of cost. CPNYC provides dinner and fresh fruits daily during the school year and breakfast and lunch during our Summer Day Camp. As we celebrate our 10th Anniversary, we are excited to share that we will be opening a second facility in the South Bronx.

Children of Promise, NYC has developed the gold standard of care that directly addresses the trauma and psychosocial needs which children may develop through experiencing parental incarceration including, but not limited to: problematic clinical conditions associated with identify, interpersonal relations, cognition, disruptions in eating & sleeping, self-harming behavior, suicidality, anxiety, dissociation, substance use, and decrease in academic functioning. Parental incarceration has recently been designated as an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). ACEs are strongly related to the development of a wide range of health and emotional problems including substance abuse, violence and being a victim of violence, depression, other mental illness and involvement with the criminal justice system. Children served by CPNYC experience complex traumas, compounded by multiple traumatic experiences, which are increasingly common for children of color in marginalized communities. Because CPNYC's children experience an intersection of several traumas simultaneously, they are a highly vulnerable and at-risk population. CPNYC recognizes the distinctive needs of this target population and offers a broad array of support services in a "safe space" where young people, ages 6-18, can share similar experiences in a mentally, emotionally, and socially supportive environment.