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Letters Home: A teacher and former student connect from prison, Part 2
Michael Bennett and Denzel Glover Editor’s Note: This is part of our series exploring the juvenile justice landscape in Pittsburgh with a focus on education and mental health. These stories were funded by Staunton Farm Foundation and The Grable Foundation. You can read other essays from inside of the juvenile justice system here and here.…
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Letters Home: A teacher and former student connect from prison, Part 1
by Michael Bennett and Denzel Glover Editor’s Note: This is part of our series exploring the juvenile justice landscape in Pittsburgh with a focus on education and mental health. These stories were funded by Staunton Farm Foundation and The Grable Foundation. You can read other essays from inside of the juvenile justice system here and…
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Breaking the cycle: Addressing trauma and building resilience in court-involved youth
Maria Guido is a licensed clinical social worker at Wellness Warrior Group, an outpatient therapy practice specializing in the treatment of trauma. She writes that the juvenile criminal justice system and the child welfare system do not account for trauma and its impact on child development, behavior and rehabilitation. Editor’s Note: This essay is part…
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PINJ has paid particular attention to the Allegheny County Jail throughout the pandemic, tracking the deaths of those in custody as well as the conditions incarcerated individuals have been forced to endure.
View all of our coverage on the Allegheny County Jail by clicking here.
More News
New Podcast Investigates Cold Case That Rocked Pittsburgh’s LGBTQ Community
Jody DiPerna I don’t remember who called to tell me, in February of 2002, that Jamie Stickle was dead, that she had been killed, but I do remember that the ground underfoot felt off-kilter. Much of the LGBTQ community couldn’t get our balance without her, and the death of this huge presence in gay Pittsburgh…
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Photographer and filmmaker Mara Rago talks about her first film, “Carla”
Rachel Rinehart The film remains a work in progress, but the archival documentary stands as a testament to the filmmaker’s friend, Carla Beck. (spoilers ahead for the film) At the beginning of Mara Rago’s film, “Carla,” a message in bold, slabbed text reads, “all efforts have been made to restore the footage to its best…
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Allegheny County pays Adelphoi $366,000 before juvenile detention center even opens
Nonprofit operator receives $7,800 daily payments before children are housed at the former Shuman facility, as Allegheny County pays for renovation costs. Brittany Hailer and Brian Conway This story is a collaboration between Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, Pittsburgh Independent and Pittsburgh Union Progress. Allegheny County already has paid more than $350,000 to nonprofit services…
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Advocating for accommodations has been a constant, but largely quiet, struggle for college students with disabilities since the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990.
Read from our award-winning series, Leveling the Playing Field, here.
Books
Barbara Kingsolver Talks About Country, Class and Community in her Appalachian Masterpiece, “Demon Copperhead”
Jody DiPerna Barbara Kingsolver lives where she set her novel, “Demon Copperhead,” on the Virginia side of the map where the state lines of Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia form an outline that mimics Pittsburgh’s rivers. She grew up just across the state line in eastern Kentucky and, though she has lived all over the…
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Book Bans Have Reached Greater Pittsburgh’s Boardrooms and Ballots
Colin Williams Clashes around censorship have pitted parents against educators, and against each other, while outside funding raises the stakes. This article was written and edited collaboratively between the Pittsburgh Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, Pittsburgh City Paper, and Belt Magazine with support from the Pittsburgh Media Partnership. Hear more about this story on the City…
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The Beehive — A Caffeinated Look Back
Jody DiPerna With his new book, “Gen X Pittsburgh: The Beehive and the 90’s Scene” (The History Press) journalist David Rullo seeks to commemorate the end of the analog era in Pittsburgh and how the Beehive became a community center for DIY art, music and creation. Rullo sat down to talk about his new book,…
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Education in Pittsburgh was upended in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly closed schools. Since then, as multiple virus waves have swept the nation, students have been in and out of physical classrooms, learning sometimes online, sometimes in person, sometimes not at all. How will they rebound?
Commentary
Stripped: Unveiling the unseen trauma of strip searching juveniles in the Allegheny County Jail
Tanisha Long Editor’s Note: This essay is part of our series exploring the juvenile justice landscape in Pittsburgh with a focus on education and mental health. These stories were funded by Staunton Farm Foundation and The Grable Foundation. You can read other essays from inside of the juvenile justice system here and here. Over 20…
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‘I wanted to read books’: Former Shuman Detention Center resident shares his story
Sean Johnson Editors Note: Sean Johnson was of the last cohort to be housed at the now shuttered Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in 2021. He writes that the education programming in the facility and a diverse library are the two most essential needs for child rehabilitation and learning. This is the first essay in a…
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Book Excerpt, “Death in Custody: How America Ignores the Truth and What We Can Do About It”
Roger A. Mitchell Jr., MD, and Jay D. Aronson, PhD. This month, Johns Hopkins University Press released “Death in Custody: How America Ignores the Truth and What We Can Do About It” by will be published on September 5 by Johns Hopkins University Press by Roger A. Mitchell Jr., MD, and Jay D. Aronson, PhD.…
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Social Justice