Employment & Job Training
ACE Programs for the Homeless
Queens
Project Comeback vocational rehabilitation (resume help, paid work experience, OSHA/forklift/food protection certifications, case management) and Project Stay retention aftercare.
Reentry Services in Queens
Second Start lists 31 reentry programs based in Queens, from housing and legal aid to jobs and healthcare, plus 317 citywide services that also serve Queens residents.
Queens has fewer local listings than Manhattan or Brooklyn, so the citywide services below, many of which work by phone, fill much of the gap.
31 local services
Browse by need in Queens
Based in Queens
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS)
Brooklyn · Queens
Free court-appointed defense in criminal, family and immigration matters (Brooklyn and Queens), plus civil advocacy, social work, and the Reentry Speaks support group.
Housing & Shelter
The Fortune Society
Queens
Full-service reentry hub: housing (emergency to permanent), benefits enrollment, case management, education, employment, outpatient substance use and mental health treatment, family services, HIV/AIDS services and ATI programs. No legal services.
Education & GED
The Fortune Society - Digital Equity Program
Queens
Beginner to advanced digital literacy training (email, smartphones, Google Suite, video conferencing, resume writing, digital safety) and free devices for people impacted by the criminal legal system.
Family & Reunification
Center for Family Representation (CFR)
Manhattan · Bronx · Queens · Staten Island
Free legal and social work help for parents contacted by ACS, aiming to keep children at home; also represents youth 7-17 facing criminal charges.
Education & GED
CUNY Fatherhood Academy
Bronx · Brooklyn · Queens
Free HSE prep or college prep track with tutoring, counseling, parenting seminars, financial incentives and job preparation.
Substance Use Recovery
Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, Inc.
Queens
Provides an Article 32 outpatient program for people 15+ with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders, plus an intensive residential program for adults 18+ with chronic substance use disorders. Services include counseling, vocational training, health education, relapse prevention, and mental health evaluations, with letters of reasonable assurance available for people being released.
Family & Reunification
Hour Children
Queens
Services for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women and their families: housing, employment training, case management, mentoring, after-school clubhouse, food pantry, thrift shops.
Education & GED
Queens Public Library - Adult Learner Program & New Americans Program
Queens
Offers ESOL classes and conversation groups, Adult Basic Education, HSE/pre-HSE prep (including for ages 16-24), citizenship prep, technology training, and case-manager referrals to social services; the New Americans Program adds free workshops on citizenship, jobs, and other topics in Queens' most widely spoken immigrant languages.
Employment & Job Training
Queens Public Library - Job & Business Academy
Queens
Free technology-focused training and workshops for job seekers, entrepreneurs and business owners.
Substance Use Recovery
Samaritan Daytop Village
Queens · Bronx
Residential and outpatient addiction treatment, methadone-to-abstinence programs, medical care, HIV testing, aftercare, and Peer Assisted Recovery Centers.
Benefits & Financial Help
Urban Upbound
Queens
Serves public housing residents and other low-income New Yorkers with employment services, financial counseling, free tax preparation, a federal credit union, youth development, a college access program, a worker cooperative initiative, and free mental health counseling at locations across NYC.
Substance Use Recovery
J-CAP (Queens Village Committee for Mental Health)
Queens
Drug-free residential treatment for men with educational and vocational services.
Healthcare
NYC Health + Hospitals Correctional Health - Reentry Center
Queens
Helps people released from Rikers connect to health and social services; phone use, medication links, OMNY cards, Narcan, fentanyl test strips, toiletry kits.
Housing & Shelter
A Beautiful Heart Ministries
Queens
Supports formerly incarcerated women, girls, and gender-fluid individuals with trauma-informed care, safe housing, employment pathways, and entrepreneurship support. Programs include 'She Writes Her Trauma,' a writing-based healing workshop, and 'When She Comes Home,' which offers care packages and transitional support to women and girls returning from incarceration.
Mental Health & Counseling
New York Counseling for Change
Queens
Group and individual services addressing problematic sexual behaviors, intimate partner, family and community violence and bias incidents; mostly telehealth.
Healthcare
Apicha Community Health Center
Manhattan · Queens
Primary care, HIV care and PrEP with a focus on Asian, Pacific Islander and LGBTQ communities.
Housing & Shelter
Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens
Brooklyn · Queens
Food pantries, housing, mental health and senior services; serves all faiths.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Center for Justice Innovation - Queens Community Justice Center
Queens
Offers alternatives to incarceration, youth programs and social services for people with cases in Queens courts.
Employment & Job Training
Commonpoint Queens - Workforce Development
Queens
Job readiness, skills training and placement for Queens residents.
Family & Reunification
Community Mediation Services (CMS)
Queens
Provides a network of mediation and conflict resolution programs to individuals, youth, and families in NYC. Visitation/custody and divorce mediation offered on a sliding fee scale. Other services include court diversion programs, therapeutic interventions, specialized educational programs, and school-based services.
Education & GED
CUNY School of Law - Formerly Incarcerated Law Student Advocacy Association
Queens
Support for formerly incarcerated people applying to law school: support letters, LSAT tutoring, and an affinity group once enrolled.
Education & GED
LaGuardia Community College - Adult & Continuing Education
Queens
HSE prep, English classes and job training programs through CUNY.
Mental Health & Counseling
LIFE Camp, Inc.
Queens
Violence interruption and youth programs in Southeast Queens.
Employment & Job Training
Pursuit
Queens
Software engineering and AI training program with job placement.
Employment & Job Training
Queens Community House
Queens
Multi-service settlement house with adult education, food pantry, youth and older adult programs.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Queens Defenders
Queens
Public defense and community programs for people charged with crimes in Queens.
ID & Vital Documents
Queens Public Library - Prison, Jails & Reentry Outreach
Queens
Connects justice-impacted people to resources, helps get a NYS ID through ID Assist, and publishes a Queens Reentry Resource Guide.
Education & GED
Queens Public Library - Tech Workshops
Queens
Free computer classes from mouse basics and email to Microsoft Office certification prep; lends tablets and laptops at some branches.
Healthcare
Urban Health Plan
Bronx · Queens
Federally qualified health centers in the Bronx and Queens.
Citywide services
These serve people from every borough, often by phone, online or at more than one office.
Housing & Shelter
Unlock NYC
Citywide
Online tools and peer support for people facing housing discrimination because they use rental vouchers (CityFHEPS, Section 8, FHEPS, HASA); helps document and report discrimination and connects to agencies.
Benefits & Financial Help
Community Health Advocates
Citywide
Offers free one-on-one help finding and using health insurance and care, including resolving medical billing and debt problems, disputing coverage denials, accessing hospital and prescription financial assistance programs, and understanding health insurance tax credit forms.
Housing & Shelter
Housing Court Answers
Citywide
Information for tenants, landlords and advocates: housing court procedures, landlord-tenant rules, code violations, referrals to free legal help and back-rent assistance.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
LawHelpNY
Citywide
Online directory of free legal services across New York with plain-language rights information, court info, and live chat Mon-Thu 9am-9pm.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Legal Services NYC
Citywide
Free civil legal services in housing, benefits and immigration, plus representation for conviction-history employment discrimination.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Mobilization for Justice
Citywide
Provides free legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers on housing, civil rights, disability rights, aging rights, bankruptcy, tax, consumer, employment, government benefits, and kinship care matters, including advice, counsel, and representation to help people with past criminal records re-enter the workforce.
Healthcare
New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF)
Citywide
Helps New Yorkers and people traveling to New York State access abortion care through financial assistance, case management, and referrals to legal, counseling, and community resources. A volunteer case manager returns calls or emails within 48 hours, and information is kept confidential.
Family & Reunification
NYC HRA - Office of Child Support Services (OCSS)
Citywide
Help with child support orders, license suspensions, lowering or eliminating child support debt owed to the government, paternity, DNA testing, mediation, and free financial counseling.
Education & GED
NYPL Free English Classes
Citywide
Free ESOL, ABE and English-for-Work classes in 10-week cycles.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
Prisoners' Legal Services of New York (PLSNY)
Citywide
Provides free legal services to people incarcerated in NYS DOCCS prisons on matters including mental health and medical care, discrimination, disciplinary hearings, excessive force, conditions of confinement, sentence calculation, and immigration. A Pre-Release and Re-Entry Program (PREP) offers counseling and planning for people within 6-18 months of release, and an immigration unit represents noncitizens in removal proceedings. Case acceptance is decided individually and does not extend to county, federal, or out-of-state facilities.
Legal Aid & Record Relief
The Legal Aid Society
Citywide
Free legal representation and advice on criminal, civil and juvenile issues: policing, bail, benefits, housing, immigration, parole, sealing and more.
Benefits & Financial Help
ACCESS NYC
Citywide
Screens eligibility and guides applications for 40+ city, state and federal benefits (food, cash, housing, internet, childcare).