Once a month, when the Brooklyn Children’s Museum is closed to the public, it welcomes a special group of visitors: parents incarcerated at Rikers Island and their children.

The Haven: Reunification program, hosted in partnership with the city’s Department of Correction, gives kids and parents a comfortable, welcoming place to play, bond and learn during long periods of separation. It was designed to blunt the impact of incarceration on children and combat recidivism after parents are released.

Atiba T. Edwards, president and CEO of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, said the program aims to give families a sense of autonomy during their visits.

“When they’re on Rikers, they don’t have choice, they don’t have a lot of agency,” he said. “The same way we create a museum that is rooted

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