Turning Trauma Into Advocacy for the Formerly Incarcerated
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Usually reserved Carolina Panthers receiver D.J. Moore takes on more of a quiet leadership role TThhee CChhaarrllootttteeTHE VOICE P POF THE BLACKo oCOMMUNITYss SINCEtt 1906 WEEK OF JULY 15, 2021 VOLUME 47, NUMBER 45 WWW.THECHARLOTTEPOST.COM $1.50 Historic hire for health director Raynard Washington is first Black person named to position By Herbert L. White [email protected] Mecklenburg County Deputy Public Health Director Dr. Raynard Washington has been named director-desig- nee, making him the first Black person to hold the top position.$ Washington, who will succeed Public Health Director Gibbie STEVE REMICH Harris when she re- Kristie Puckett-Williams turned her life around after being incarcerated in the Mecklenburg County Jail. After cutting a plea deal to settle a cocaine tires at year’s end, Washington trafficking charge in 2009, she turned to education as a way to overcome trauma she said landed her behind bars. “I found myself out [of jail] with provides oversight a whole lot of trauma and a whole lot of lists of things to do in order to remain free in order for my children to remain free,” she said. and direction to internal opera- tions. He also supports all aspects of the county’s COVID-19 response with direct oversight of communications Turning trauma into advocacy and outreach, epi- demiology, testing and vaccine distribu- tion. for the formerly incarcerated “I’m honored to have been chosen for this role,” Washington After hitting rock bottom behind bars, a champion for transformation emerges said in a statement. “It Harris By Ashley Mahoney ment of Social Services required parent- has been a privilege to [email protected] ing classes in order to keep her chil- serve with an incredible team of Jail shattered Kristie Puckett-Williams’ dren.$ public health professionals in our This series was produced in partnership with the remaining sense of self-worth.$ “I found myself out [of jail] with a department over the past year. We Pulitzer Center Drugs and alcohol had dulled the pain whole lot of trauma,” she said, “and a strive every day to protect and im- of domestic violence. Crime supported a victim of severe domestic violence. whole lot of lists of things to do in order prove the health of our community her habit, which landed Puckett-Wil- None of the system’s responses to that to remain free, in order for my children and make good health possible for liams in the Mecklenburg County Jail for violence promoted any healing or trans- to remain free. I had to focus on that list everyone. I’m looking forward to “months,” she said. Facing a cocaine formation of that trauma. The only of things that I had to do.” continuing to work together in trafficking charge in 2009, she took a thing it ever did was exacerbate and UNC Charlotte social work professor serving the residents of Mecklen- plea deal to avoid giving birth in lockup, compound that trauma.” Dante Bryant PhD describes the Ameri- burg County.” and twins Kade and Kaiden were born Probation dominated much of Puck- can criminal justice system as one de- Washington, who started with premature five days later. They spent ett-Williams’ adult life, with the fear of signed to punish, not rehabilitate. Mecklenburg County last year, was 21 days in neonatal intensive care. returning to jail always hovering in the Dehumanization of the incarcerated is chief epidemiologist and deputy “It took a huge toll on my already frag- background. She participated in a man- a byproduct.$ commissioner with the Philadel- ile mental health state,” Puckett-Wil- datory 10-month treatment program as “Our local jail here, they’ve started all phia Department of Public Health liams said. “I entered into the system as part of her plea deal, and the Depart- Please see TURNING TRAUMA | 2A from 2017-2020. Before that, he worked for the Council for Afford- able Quality Healthcare Inc. and Please see DR. RAYNARD | 2A US education secretary bullish on HBCUs County and By Herbert L. White Rep. Alma Adams, the state’s five private disproportionately hinders school board [email protected] founder of the Bipartisan HBCUs and the South’s lower-income Black borrowers. U.S. Education Secretary Mi- HBCU Caucus. North Car- oldest Black college. Answers and questions are ed- guel Cardona understands the olina has 10 accredited In an interview with The ited for brevity and clarity. move ahead value of historically Black col- HBCUs – the most of any Post, Cardona talked Q: In terms of historically leges and challenges they face. state – ranging from pub- about the contributions black colleges, how much Cardona toured Johnson C. licly-funded North Caro- of HBCUs to American knowledge or background do with budget Smith University Monday and lina A&T State University, education, federal efforts you have with prior to becom- participated in a roundtable the nation’s largest by to improve their infras- ing secretary and have you had By Herbert L. White enrollment, to Shaw Uni- Cardona tructure and plans to re- to study up on them a little bit with students, JCSU President [email protected] Clarence Armbrister and U.S. versity in Raleigh, one of duce student debt, which Please see US EDUCATION | 3A Mecklenburg County commis- sioners and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools got what they wanted in NC and federal bills target Black maternal health their school funding dispute. The county agreed last week to By Aaliyah Bowden release $56 million of restricted [email protected] funds to CMS, whose total appropriation to New federal legislation would examine why mater- $538 million includes nal health is a crisis for Black women. an additional $11 mil- Two bills under the Black Maternal Health Momni- lion in operating bus Act of 2021 – Data to Save Moms and Social De- funds from Mecklen- terminants for Moms – focus on research to improve burg. The county will the health of all women, specifically Black women. also make available “Since the start of the pandemic, we really realized up to $1 million for that there was a serious problem within black ma- the district to im- Dunlap ternal health, that the disproportionate rate of mor- prove its website so tality and morbidity among our black women is a that information is more accessible crisis,” said U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, a Democrat for families and the public. whose congressional district includes Charlotte. “It’s The Board of Education agreed to still a crisis, and of course in the pandemic, it was a increase the district’s focus on im- crisis within a crisis.” proving student outcomes through Adams introduced the Black Maternal Momnibus the Student Outcomes-Focused Act in the House of Representatives in March 2020, Governance model and will work around the time the country shut down because of with a consultant on its implemen- the pandemic. The legislation would enact policy tation. changes like 12-month postpartum Medicaid cover- “Both boards have worked col- age, investments in rural maternal health, promotion laboratively through their respec- of a diverse perinatal workforce, and implicit bias OFFICE OF U.S. REP. ALMA ADAMS tive working groups to identify training to addresses mortality and morbidity rates U.S. Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.), right, listens during a roundtable discussion at the Goodwill ways to improve transparency and among women, specifically Black moms and babies. Opportunity campus in west Charlotte. Adams is co-sponsor of the Black Maternal Momnibus provide more clarity and focus on In North Carolina, 12 bills that closely mirror federal Act of 2020 and 2021. Please see COUNTY | 2A Please see NORTH CAROLINA | 2A INSIDE Please STAY IN TOUCH Digital edition: Sports 5A Snapchat: thecharpost www.thecharlottepostnewspaper.com Recycle Life 1B Twitter: @thecharpost A&E 5B To subscribe: (704) 376-0496 or online Facebook: The Charlotte Post Classified 4B http://tcppc.com/Subscribe Instagram: @thecharlottepost #PaperThursday 2A NEWS | The Charlotte Post Thursday, July 15, 2021 Turning trauma into re-entry advocacy Continued from page 1A in places.”$ and recovery counseling from Liberty tum. Pregnant incarcerated people these different types of programs, to try Wendy Sawyer, research director at University.$ would receive free prenatal, labor and to help facilitate [re-entry],” he said. the$Northampton, Massachusetts-based Puckett-Williams feels called to fight delivery care which Puckett-Williams “But the reality is that programs only Prison Policy Initiative, wrote in a 2019 for people who are still in the trenches did not have. She also did not have fem- emerge when there’s a problem. A pro- report that re-entry programs have a of addiction, abusive relationships and inine hygiene products while she was gram always emerges in response to a gender gap that ignores the unique incarceration.$ incarcerated, which HB 608 would pro- deficiency. A criminal justice system needs of women. “For me,” she said, “it is about telling vide.$ that is designed for rehabilitation “A handful of programs have sprung the truth, and in indicting a system that “I was incarcerated while pregnant, re- shouldn’t need programs. It should be up in communities around the country indicted me, that indicted my poverty, ceived no prenatal care, [was in] shack- the program.”$ to meet the needs of women returning that indicted my trauma, and now I’m les, all the things,” Puckett-Williams Puckett-Williams said sheer will to home: some founded by formerly incar- in guiding it, because instead of ad- said. “I had been in jail before and did protect her family helped with navigat- cerated women themselves, some run- dressing my poverty, or my trauma, it not have access to menstrual pads.