New York Juvenile Asylum

The Children's Village, formerly the New York Juvenile Asylum, is a private, non-profit residential treatment facility and school for troubled children. It was founded in 1851 by 24 citizens of New York, including Isaac Hopper, who were concerned about growing numbers of street children in New York. The necessity for such an institution was first proposed by the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, which helped to get it started.

Hundreds of homeless and runaway children were present on the streets of New York at the time, and many of them were arrested every year. As part of its mission "to care for, train, and morally uplift a mixed group of the City's poor children," the New York Juvenile Asylum provided housing, education, and reform for those children, and eventually placed them in apprenticeships. It provided a non-punitive alternative for children who had been arrested, and taught disobedient or unoccupied children "self-discipline of body, mind, and heart." In its earliest days it was not particularly effective, and became primarily a place to house disruptive children.

The mission and purpose of the Children's Village has evolved from its origins in the 1800s, and it now exists to "work in partnership with families to help society's most vulnerable children so that they become educationally proficient, economically productive, and socially responsible members of their communities."

The original charter for the school was drafted in 1850. After some initial fundraising difficulties, the school was opened in a rented building on January 10, 1853. Early on, the asylum was able to house 400 students, who received six hours of schooling a day, plus other types of instruction, such as vocational education. The school also participated in the orphan train program, placing students with families throughout the Midwest, notably Illinois.

In 1854 property was purchased in Washington Heights. This property consisted of 23 acres, and later expanded to 29. This campus had 1,200 beds, although it averaged 582 children per year between 1871 and 1879. The original plan called for two separate facilities: a House of Reception where children would be initially sent by authorities and would be fed, bathed, and housed, while an investigation occurred to determine if there were family who would care for them, and the Asylum, where students would be housed long-term. A massive building of blue granite was constructed on 175th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, and opened in 1856. It was described as being "somewhat too prison-like in appearance." An 1860 New York Times article said, "It has a front of 150 feet, two wings, each 75 feet in length and 46 in breadth, and a central extension, 82 feet deep and 43 feet in width. A brick wall incloses play-grounds for both sexes."

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