Criminal Justice Sector

Through a partnership with The Welcoming Project,

IWES conducted formative research with system-involved youth to determine how to make our Criminal Justice system more trauma-informed. Results from our research can be found here, and the joint Call-to-Action that came out of the research in the Criminal Justice and Education sectors is to make:

ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN NEW ORLEANS EMPLOY FULL-TIME, LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS THAT RECEIVE REGULAR TRAINING & SUPPORT TO CREATE A TRAUMA-INFORMED SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT.

We chose to take a preemptive look at the criminal justice sector and focus on stemming the school-to-prison pipeline. If youth receive trauma-informed, restorative and healing services we can have longer-lasting impacts on their emotional wellbeing that begins to address the trauma and injustice they have experienced. Through compassion and understanding of trauma-informed principles, students with behavioral issues can find healthier alternatives to express their feelings with the knowledge that their school is willing to put in the time and attention to work with them to help them be the best versions of themselves. Ultimately, we don’t want to see any young people in jail. Full stop. And we believe by starting in one of the locations youth spend most of their time in outside of the home - school - we can prevent juvenile incarceration. To illustrate the impact incarceration can have on a young person’s life, we spoke to 5 amazing Welcoming Project Fellows; Jacques, Ju’Ron, Keem, Malaiah, & Tyree.

Read their stories. Understand the issues. Advocate for an end to the school-to-prison pipeline and trauma-informed schools that incorporate restorative practices.

If you would like to be in that number and want help activating our Call to Action, contact us here.