Us & Them Trey Kay and WVPB

America’s prisons incarcerate people who’ve violated the law, but at some point, at least 95% of all state prisoners will be released back into the free world. Some struggle to navigate that transition successfully. On this encore Us & Them episode, host Trey Kay hears about the challenges of reentry. Some of those challenges are essential but basic — accessing identification materials, birth certificates, social security cards and identity cards. In prison, many of life’s decisions are made for men and women while life on the outside can mean thousands of choices each day. How do we want men and women coming back after prison? How well do programs designed to help formerly incarcerated people succeed? Some people suggest we must first recognize that many of the men and women serving time are victims themselves. Recognizing that trauma may be a powerful step to help people make a new life after they serve their time. This episode was honored with a national first place documentary award from the Public Media Journalists Association.  It was also part of a series of episodes that were honored with a first place award in public service through journalism from Virginia's AP Broadcasters. 

Overcrowding and understaffing have pushed West Virginia’s prisons and jails to what many believe is a crisis point. On this Us & Them, we hear what incarceration is like for someone in a mental health crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people with mental illnesses are caught up in a criminal justice system that was never intended to treat them. In a recent special session, West Virginia lawmakers earmarked $30 million to address staffing shortages and provide pay raises and retention bonuses to correctional staff. There is also $100 million for deferred facility maintenance. However, a new lawsuit against the state on behalf of West Virginia inmates, demands more than three times that amount is needed. 

We are releasing this bonus podcast because this month marks a significant milestone for Us & Them, West Virginia and actually American history. Fifty years ago today, on June 27th, the Board of Education in Kanawha County, West Virginia set off a chapter of the nation’s culture wars as it debated whether to purchase a controversial series of new textbooks. The meeting room was packed and emotions were hot. 

Fifty years ago this month, a fierce controversy erupted over newly adopted school textbooks in Kanawha County, West Virginia. The fight led to violent protests in West Virginia. Dynamite hit school buildings. Bullets hit buses. And protesting miners forced some coal mines to shut down - because of the new multicultural textbooks. The classroom material focused on an increasingly global society, introducing students to the languages and ideas of diverse cultures. The material was an affront to many Christian social conservatives who felt the books undermined traditional American values. They saw their religion replaced by another belief system: secular humanism. Many of those frustrations boiled over in Kanawha County in the summer of 1974.

Forty-two million Americans or about 12 percent of the the population need help feeding their families. That help often comes from a federal program called SNAP - which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps. The Mountain State is one of the top recipients of SNAP benefits. Nearly 45 percent of recipients are older adults or families with someone who’s disabled while nearly 60 percent are families with children. The nation’s food support program began six decades ago, as a pilot program in McDowell County. Since then it has reduced poverty and hunger across the nation. In an award-winning encore episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay talks with three people, a retiree, a mom and a lawmaker who all say that nutritional support has made a difference in their lives. 

We continue to learn more about the way childhood trauma can affect our physical and psychological health and the result is creating a social movement. More than two decades ago, researchers first came up with a way to assess the impact of childhood neglect, abuse and family dysfunction. Nearly half the kids under 18 in the U.S. have had an adverse experience or serious trauma. Now, advocates are getting traction with “trauma-aware” campaigns and coalitions. Many institutions are investing in trauma awareness, training and screening. The original study, published in 1998, concluded that early traumas contribute to poor health outcomes later in life. That research got almost no attention when it was first published, however today its findings are considered ground-breaking. But some say using such a rubric to assess a person’s experience won’t work for everyone and may simply label and limit their future potential.