Isaac Hopper’s diary chronicles his work for the Prison Association of New York. The PANY was founded in 1844 and, according to its constitution--tabulated in the First Report of the Prison Association of New York--sought firstly “The amelioration of the condition of prisoners whether detained for trial, or finally convicted, or as witnesses.” Secondly, it sought "The improvement of Prison Discipline and the Government of Prisons, whether for Cities, Counties, or States."

Its third objective is stated as “The support and encouragement of reformed convicts after their discharge, by affording them the means of obtaining an honest livelihood, and sustaining them in their efforts at reform.” This third objective comprised the bulk of the Association’s quotidian labors. One can glean this from a cursory glance at Hopper’s diary submissions, which detail the individual cases of ex-convicts and the personalized aid/advice offered them. But corroboration can be found in Lydia Maria Child’s biography, Isaac T. Hopper: A True Life, as she posits the business of the Prison Association thusly: “to inquire into individual cases, and extend such sympathy and assistance as circumstances required” (Child, 409).

To help provide such assistance was the motivation behind forming the PANY in the first place. The First Report begins with an anecdote about how inspectors of the state prisons were made aware of alarming rates of recidivism, despite the pure and sincere intentions of the respective ex-prisoners. Though the inspectors gave three dollars to the prisoners upon their release, this amount was often not enough to pay for their travel back home, and once destitution set in they were doomed to criminality once again. Moreover, so many prisoners requested the three-dollar relief package that soon there was no more money to give. Thus the PANY was established to help provide aid and relief to newly released prisoners. 

Today, the PANY goes by the Correctional Association of New York, and it undertakes a wider mission than its 19th century progenitor. CANY enjoins the public to “fundamentally rethink the nature and purpose of incarceration,” and envisions a society wherein “the criminal justice system no longer targets African Americans and other people of color through mass incarceration”; where less prisoners face less time behind bars; and where holistic rehabilitation replaces “rote programming” and exploitative labor as prison-justice methodology.

Sources:

https://www.correctionalassociation.org/about-cany

First Report of the Prison Association of New York. Jared W. Bell, 1844.

Child, Lydia Maria. Isaac T. Hopper: A True Life. Dodd & Co, 1881.