Implementing Trauma-Informed Education within Youth Carceral Facilities

Abstract

Exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, children in youth carceral facilities are suffering from an alarming mental health crisis. Despite behavioral correction programs, youth within — disproportionately BIPOC — are still 53% more likely to suffer from mental illness than their peers, 39% less likely to graduate from high school and 41% more likely to commit crimes in the future. This policy proposal offers a trauma-informed educational approach — mitigating the impact of racial and other trauma — to improve mental health and educational outcomes. Trauma-informed education is proven to decrease bad behavior caused by trauma, in turn increasing high school graduation rates of students. By creating new curriculums, adjusting classroom settings and training teachers to utilize trauma-informed education, educators can boost graduation rates, decrease recidivism — breaking the cycle of incarceration — and improve the mental health of children attending school within carceral facilities.