After-School program in Bedford Stuyvesant provides care and counseling to kids whose parents are in prison

By Josie Raymond - Tonic

Almost 2.5 million kids in the US have a parent who is in prison. So who steps in to fill the void? With any luck, it's you.

"For children who experience other kinds of separation from their parents, there's some level of sympathy. The children of incarcerated parents don't get that. They're also serving time," said Sharon Content, the founder of Children of Promise, NYC, a three-year-old organization committed to doing everything it can to make sure that the children of incarcerated parents don't end up behind bars themselves.

An after-school program and summer day camp in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn are focused on developing the children's social, academic and leadership skills to ensure that they've got opportunities for success. It's the first program of its kind in New York City and it currently serves 135 kids from ages 6 to 18, including the cute ones in the photo above.