The Children's Aid Society

Community Re-entry Program

The Children’s Aid Society Community Re-entry Program serves youth who are returning to communities in the Bronx and Manhattan from juvenile justice facilities. It is conducted in partnership with the New York State Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the New York State Office of Children’s and Family Services (OCFS).

To ease this difficult transition, youth receive customized re-entry plans specified to meet their needs and interests. In collaboration with OCFS after-care counselors, Re-entry staff also ensure that all returning youth have the basic documentation (including a photo ID, birth certificate, social security card and working papers) needed to register in school, obtain a job and/or take part in community service.

Children’s Aid and OCFS staff greet youth and their families at two designated Welcoming Centers: Children's Aid's Dunlevy Milbank Center in Harlem and Bronx Teen Center on Southern Boulevard. From there, youth are connected to prescribed after-school programs at their local Boys and Girls Club. This coordinated support network is critical to helping youth readjust to their communities and complete aftercare without revocations, AWOLS or re-arrests. Presently, over 80% of youth in OCFS aftercare participate in pro-social activities at their assigned Clubhouse at least three times per week, and over 20% of these youth continue to participate voluntarily in activities beyond the six- to eight-month aftercare period.

For more information, please contact Eddie Britt at (212) 996-1716 or visit the Dunlevy Milbank Center at 14-32 West 118th St., New York, NY 10026.