This week, we reflect on Dolly Parton’s passing and her legacy in the region. Also, the Adaptive Climbers Festival at Kentucky’s Red River Gorge feels like home for climbers with disabilities from around the world. And, a new book spotlights Appalachian plants and encourages readers to get in touch with nature.
Every year West Virginia children are taken into state custody. Sometimes, a case involves parental neglect or drug abuse. Other times, kids commit crimes and are placed in juvenile residential facilities.
The juvenile justice programs and agencies have been under a spotlight over the past decade — partly because West Virginia has had one of the highest rates of juvenile incarceration in the country. Lawmakers have passed bills to reform the system but the outcome is mixed.
Meanwhile, juvenile incarceration means the system makes decisions for kids — and those changes can last a lifetime.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.
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Louis Mitchell
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Geard Mitchell (19) knows West Virginia’s juvenile system first hand. He spent nearly three years in the Donald R. Kuhn Juvenile Center in Julian, W.Va. Mitchell, who now lives in Brooklyn, NY, is one of 12 plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against the State of West Virginia. The plaintiffs argue the state violated the rights of children by failing to plan appropriately for juveniles in state custody.
Trey Kay
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This is the exterior of the Donald R. Kuhn Juvenile Center in Julian, W.Va.
Laura Rigell
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Trey Kay is in Boone County, W.Va. standing on the shoulder of U.S. Route 119 in front of the Donald R. Kuhn Juvenile Center.
Trey Kay
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Ronda Lehman has been the coordinator of Teen Court in Jefferson County, W.Va. since 2013. There are currently about 16 other Teen Courts in the State of West Virginia.
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On this West Virginia Week, a client for a big data center is revealed, flock cameras see resistance and social media settles in court.
Bill Lynch is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt...
This week, we reflect on Dolly Parton’s passing and her legacy in the region. Also, the Adaptive Climbers Festival at Kentucky’s Red River Gorge feels like home for climbers with disabilities from around the world. And, a new book spotlights Appalachian plants and encourages readers to get in touch with nature.
In the wake of Dolly Parton's death on Tuesday, her Imagination Library of West Virginia has had an outpouring of comments and calls about the late singer's impact.