Monsters in the workplace? Maybe. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is developing a team building game using Appalachian cryptids like Bigfoot and the Flatwoods Monster. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams spoke with Jessica Hammer, associate professor and director of the university’s Center for Transformational Play, to learn more.
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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Monsters in the workplace? Maybe. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is developing a team building game using Appalachian cryptids like Bigfoot and the Flatwoods Monster. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams spoke with Jessica Hammer, associate professor and director of the university’s Center for Transformational Play, to learn more.
Across the nation, more than 390,000 children rely on foster care, while a shortage of licensed foster homes is creating a growing crisis. As May marks National Foster Care Month, this encore episode of Us & Them explores the lives of children, foster parents, and families navigating a system under strain.
This week, Hurricane Helene devastated central Appalachia and disrupted the lives of people in recovery. Also, in West Virginia, fur trapping continues, even in the 21st century. And, baseball is America’s past-time. One league is making the game more inclusive.