(dramatic music) - Welcome to "Crosscut Now" the show that takes you beyond the breaking news, goes deeper on the issues you care about and brings awareness to stories affecting communities.

Coming up in today's episode, according to the CDC, there is an adverse childhood experience when a parent and a child are separated due to a prison sentence.

We go inside a one-of-a-kind Washington prison program for mothers hoping to prevent that, sharing one young woman's story.

We'll also look at the state's top agricultural crop making a major comeback.

Plus bus and train riders in the Pacific Northwest are being exposed to traces of opioids.

We'll let you know what that means for you if you use public transportation.

I'm Paris Jackson for today's episode.

In the past decades, the incarceration of women has exploded.

We'll learn more about a young mother's journey in a Washington prison program where she and others stay with their infants to form healthy attachments and learn skills for raising their children.

A specialized prison program for pregnant mothers in Washington state is starting back up after it was forced to close during the pandemic.

For more than two decades, the Washington Correction Center for Women has run the Residential Parenting program where pregnant women in prison can stay with their babies, get support and help becoming a parent in Gig Harbor.

Inside we meet three pregnant mothers, Christina Torres, Marie Holler, and we closely follow 24 year old Paige Zorn and her baby Zalen.

The state prison credits itself as the only prison in America with a licensed early learning center, Early Head Start.

The three mothers are the first class since the program reopened after the pandemic, they say it helped them bond with their children and prepare for life outside.

In September, Zoran was able to go home with a pre-apprenticeship certificate for manufacturing and a housing voucher, and she says the program saved her life.

I sit down with Crosscut staff photographer and videographer, Amanda Snyder to learn about her unique photographic journey following the stories of incarcerated mothers inside and out of a Washington prison program.

Welcome, Amanda.

Thank you for joining us today.

- Thanks for having me.

- Now, I wanna read the statistic to you, just to kind of paint this picture.

At the end of 2016, there were nearly 112,000 incarcerated women in America, and that's a 750% increase since 1980, a staggering spike in women behind bars.

You had the unique experience of going inside this prison and talking to a couple of different women.

Tell us about the story that you were telling visually.

- Yeah, so Joe O. Sullivan and I went into the prison to meet with these women.

So kind of when you walk in, you are escorted through security and everything, and we end up at J Unit, which is kind of the hub for this program, and it feels a lot like a dormitory where there's a place for a kitchen and there's a place to bathe their babies.

And then kind of the center of it all is a playroom where all the women are able to hang out, and that's where we met all three of these women.

- This is a story that hasn't really been told because you're also following these mothers, but you got to catch up with one in particular.

And her name was Paige.

Tell us a little bit more about Paige.

- Yeah, so Paige went into the prison system and we met her in the spring of this year.

So Paige had a lot of anxiety about getting outta the program and she had a young child and before she had gone through kind of being in the wrong crowd, she had a drug addiction.

And this program really helped her get clean and really have a connection with Zalen, her youngest.

And so she had a lot of anxiety about getting out and when we talked to her it's, you know, "Where am I gonna find a job?

Where am I gonna live?"

And so we followed her for these six months right before she was released and she was also going through an apprenticeship there, which was really big for her to be able to find a stable job once she left.

- And not only did you talk to Paige, 'cause we're gonna get back to telling a little bit more of her story, but you also met two other mothers and their babies.

Tell us about them.

- [Amanda] Yeah, so the two other mothers are Christina and Marie who are both working towards their associate's and have two girls in the program.

- How does the Department of Corrections define success in this program?

- I think when you think about success for this program, the women are thinking, are they becoming a better mother?

Are they able to have a connection with their child?

Is the child benefiting from this?

And I think overall, it's are these women staying out of prison and having a better life once they get out?

- And speaking of getting out, Paige has now been released, she was able to get outta prison in September.

Tell us how she's doing.

- So Paige is doing really well right now.

We met her about a month after she had gotten out and she had a group home that she is living in and she has about six months of rent paid for and she's gonna start looking for a job soon, which she was able to get an apprenticeship in manufacturing in prison while she was there.

So right now she's really optimistic about where she's at and she's able to be clean and is going to a support group and found that support system that she was really looking for after she left.

So again, she's pretty optimistic.

- There is criticism.

What is the pushback about this program?

- I think scholars and academics generally praise prison nurseries in general.

And I would say the pushback is should women and children be behind bars in general and is there other alternatives for them to be able to do something like home confinement or GPS monitoring?

Women make up generally a less percentage of the prison population and pregnant women, even less so.

So people want to think, how can we form this kind of program to be able to form that child bond that is so important for a mother?

- Amanda, before we go, what's your takeaway from this experience that you had talking to Paige and those other two mothers?

- Yeah, it was a really impactful experience for me and I mean, I was really honored that they were able to share a little bit of their lives and what it was like inside there.

I think it will leave a lasting impact on me.

- It was a pleasure speaking with you today.

Thank you for joining us.

- Yeah, thank you for having me.

- If you want to read more of the story written by Joe O. Sullivan and see some of those captivating pictures from Amanda, go to crosscut.com for more.

(gentle music) The state's top agricultural commodity is seeing a jump in crops this year.

We'll tell you which varieties are most desired.

Washington's top agricultural commodity is booming this year following a weather related slump.

Apple growers expect to return to normalcy for their beloved apple crops after they took a hit in 2022 from poor weather conditions.

The Washington State Tree Fruit Association anticipates this year's fresh apple crop will be over 134,000,040 pound boxes, about a 30% spike from the previous year.

The Tree Fruit Association says they're back to more of the normal range, which is good news for their growers and anyone who likes to eat apples.

More than 60% of the nation's apples are produced in the Evergreen State.

Gala apples remain the top variety followed by Honey Crisp, then the Cosmic Crisp, a new and well-publicized variety developed by Washington State University's apple breeding program.

The Red Delicious variety has fallen out of favor with US consumers, making India a top overseas buyer.

(gentle music) A disturbing new study finds public transportation riders in Washington and Oregon are being exposed to Fentanyl.

We'll let you know if experts say you are at risk.

An alarming news study finds public transportation riders in the Pacific Northwest are being exposed to fentanyl, shining a light on the growing opioid crisis.

That University of Washington study revealed bus and train riders were regularly being exposed to traces of fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Health experts maintain the levels of the substances found on public transportation and other surfaces haven't been detected at levels high enough to harm the general public.

However, their findings reveal a potential labor issue for employees and help paint a fuller picture of how present the opioid crisis is in the world around us.

In the past year, nearly 2,700 people have died from drug overdose deaths at disturbingly high levels across the state.

Experts say there is some misinformation.

UDUB's Addictions Drug and Alcohol Institute says it's not possible to overdose from touching fentanyl.

And there have been no clinically confirmed overdoses from secondhand exposure to fentanyl smoke.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching "Crosscut Now."

Your destination for nonprofit Northwest News.

Go to crosscut.com for more.

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