Trauma-Informed Care for Children of Incarcerated Mothers in West Virginia

Taylor Miller*, Claudia Breaux*, Mitchell Sinicropi*, Olivia Vigna*, Ife Abel* and Dr. Geah Pressgrove, Reed College of Media, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Field (Broad Category): Communications/Journalism (Behavioral & Social Sciences) 

Student’s Major: Strategic Communications 

Women's incarceration has risen significantly since the war on drugs was created by the Nixon administration, and West Virginia has reported higher rates of population-based incarceration of women than the United States as a whole. Of these women, over 60% in prisons and 80% in jails are mothers. Removing the primary caregiver of dependent children leads to adverse childhood experiences, higher rates of justice-involvement, and a lower likelihood of graduating college. Public school employees and law enforcement officers are some of the most involved individuals in the lives of these children. We have chosen to investigate ways to raise awareness within these stakeholders to help improve traumainformed care for children of incarcerated mothers through our research question: what components should be included in a strategic communications campaign to best inform West Virginia schools and law enforcement officials about the importance of trauma-informed care. Research for this project has been performed through secondary research regarding the background, policies, effects, and organizations assisting children of incarcerated women. Additionally, primary research has been conducted through in-depth interviews with experts on the topic and analogous sources, and further research will be conducted. Increased awareness of the importance of trauma-informed care for children of incarcerated women will provide these children with better counseling resources from schools and better perception of law enforcement officials. This could lead to improvement in behavior development, college graduation rates, and reduce the cycle of generational incarceration. 

Funding: 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: Other Women Beyond Bars