Hour Children

Hour Children is a non-sectarian, not-for-profit agency located in Long Island City (Queens County) that has been solely focused, throughout our 25-year history, on providing practical, comprehensive services to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and their families. Founded in 1986 and incorporated in 1992, Hour Children has evolved from its modest beginnings as a program that provided care to children of women incarcerated at Bedford Hills and Taconic Correctional Facilities, to a leading provider of prison- and community-based programs that support these fragile women and their families as they work to transform their lives and achieve self-sufficiency. Community-based programs include: transitional and permanent supportive housing; a comprehensive employment training and placement program; case management and therapeutic services; pre- and post-release adult mentoring; mentoring for children with incarcerated parents; child care that includes a fully-licensed daycare center and an after-school program that free women so that they can go to work or school, three thrift shops; and a community food pantry. In-prison programming (varies by locale) include: transportation and visitation services; parenting education; mental health support for women, children and families; a Teen Program; advocacy; and a residential Nursery unit. Hour Children's recidivism rate is 3.5%, significantly lower than the 39.9% published by NYS