Family Resources

Resources to see and support children of incarcerated parents

Resources on Visiting

Best Practices for Child Friendly Video Visiting

This handbook focuses on how to make the experiences with virtually visiting an incarcerated parent smoother for everyone in the process.

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Tip Sheet for Incarcerated Parents: Planning for a Visit from Your Child/Children

Share with incarcerated moms and dads to help them prepare for visits.

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New York State DOCCS’ Visiting Schedule by Facility

Find the visiting schedule for each prison facility in New York State

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Rikers Island Visiting Bus Schedule

The City provides free visitor transportation to and from Rikers

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Parent-Child Visiting Practices in Prisons and Jails
Urban Institute

Information on best practices for supporting parent-child visiting in prisons and jails

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Stronger Together Handbooks

These handbooks focus on the experiences and needs of children with an incarcerated parent and provide essential information for caregivers.

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New York State DOCCS Visitor and Family Resources

This handbook was designed to help family members understand more about the New York State correctional system when visiting an incarcerated family member.

Read here

NYC Department of Correction Visiting Guide

Find general information about visits in New York State jails

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Video Visiting in New York, Osborne Association

Video visits are available in some NYS prisons and Rikers Island jails. Video visits help children maintain connections with their parent in between in-person visits

Learn more here

Five Reasons to Support Visiting

Learn about why it is important to visit and join us in using humanizing language... we invite you to say "visits" rather than "visitation."

Read here

Speaking to Children about Incarceration

Hard Conversations: How to Talk to Kids About an Incarcerated Loved One

by Melissa Guida-Richards, Everymom

Learn tips for speaking to children about the incarceration of a parent or family member.

Read here

Recommended Books For and About Children of Incarcerated Parents

Find age-appropriate recommended books for children of incarcerated parents

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NY State Council on Children and Families

Statewide Coordinating Council on Children with Incarcerated Parents

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National Resource Center for Children and Families of the Incarcerated at Rutgers University

NRCCFI is the oldest and largest organization in the U.S. focused on children and families of the incarcerated and programs that serve them

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New York State Kinship Navigator

Information, referral, and advocacy program for kinship caregivers

Read here

Sesame Street Workshop: Incarceration

Find tips, videos, storybooks and more resources to assist children in learning about parental incarceration

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Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights

Developed by the San Francisco Partnership for Children of Incarcerated Parents as a roadmap to safeguard children whose parents are involved in the criminal justice system

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Youth.gov

Federal website of national resources

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Words Matter Guide

Join our #WordsMatter campaign to use humanizing language to refer to PEOPLE and PARENTS who are incarcerated or have come home, and replace "visitation" with "visits" or "visiting"

Learn more here

A Call to Action: Safeguarding New York’s Children of Incarcerated Parents

Recommendations for how to improve the lives and outcomes of New York’s children who have justice involved parents

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