Brooklyn and Bronx nonprofit supports children of incarcerated parents

NEW YORK (PIX11) — One out of nine African American children and one out of 15 Hispanic children have an incarcerated parent, according to the organization Children of Promise NYC.

Most of these children are left in the dark, impacted by the incarceration of their loved ones. That is why the Brooklyn- and Bronx-based organization is committed to providing resources and support to children and families affected by mass incarceration. Their goal is to interrupt the intergenerational cycle of incarceration and to dismantle the mental health stigma plaguing Black and Brown communities.

On the first day of summer camp at Children of Promise, the kids were having a great time. When they are within these walls, they are all smiles, and their future looks bright. Even if outside of the building, their world might be crumbling.

“When a child loses a parent as a result of divorce, military deployment or even death, there is a level of sympathy. I am so sorry. To hear that, but when you lose a parent as a result of incarceration, that same level doesn’t exist. Your mom is incarcerated! The child is wearing the burden of their parent’s incarceration, so that is why children of promise exist,” said Sharon Content.

She founded COP in 2009 out of her home basement. The organization supports about 300 children, referred to as scholars, with at least one parent behind bars.

“Our services speak to those challenges that they have. So yes, it is a computer lab, sports, basketball, drama, but as a result of the trauma that our scholars have experienced, mental health service is the most important and paramount service that we offer,” she added.

The scholars are between the ages of 6-and-18 and live in Bedstuy, Brooklyn or the South Bronx — two of the seven communities that have the highest incarceration rates in New York City. Content said over 105,000 children in New York have a parent in jail.

“We are boots on the ground; we are in the communities in which grandmothers are raising their grandchildren because their children are incarcerated,” stated Content.

April Schneider and her three children, Jamar, Abby and Adam, have been part of Children of Promise for eight years. Their biological mother was sentenced when they were babies. April has raised them since and eventually adopted them.

“It is like a safe haven for the kids. Being here is helping me and my children,” stated Schneider.

Isaih, 12, and 10-year-old Adam want to become professional basketball players. bby, who’s 11, said she wants to work helping people, something she has learned through Children of Promise.

“It is fun, and you get to be around friends,” said Abby.

There are 58% of women in state prisons who are parents, compared to 48% of men. Most of them are mothers to more than one child. Content told PIX11 News they had to create an entire cohort of grandmothers to provide the additional support needed because their daughters are serving time.

As Children of Promise celebrates its 15th anniversary, over three thousand scholars have been positively impacted in areas such as academics, behavior, and self-esteem. The organization’s goal is to break the cycle.

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