FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky’s Republican governor touted a pilot project Thursday to train prisoners and steer them toward skilled jobs, part of his goal to make the state with chronically high incarceration rates into a national leader in returning inmates to productive lives.
The “Justice to Journeyman” initiative will put inmates on track to earn nationally recognized journeyman credentials in skilled trades. The effort starts with training they receive while confined. It continues once they’re out by connecting them with prospective employers.
It’s the latest step by Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration to reduce the stigma of incarceration in the eyes of employers. The goal is to reduce reoffending rates among Kentucky’s prison population in hopes of lowering corrections costs and bolstering public safety.
“Kentucky is going to be the model for the nation,” Bevin said. “Kentucky is going to lead the way for returning people back from the justice system into society in productive, useful … ways.”
The apprenticeship project will start at three of Kentucky’s adult prisons and four juvenile justice centers, with the goal of expanding it. Each program can train about 15 people at a time.
Apprentices earn average starting wages of $15 an hour, with pay increasing as their skills grow, Bevin’s administration said. Most retain employment once their apprenticeships end.
To receive journeyman certificates at the completion of the program, participants must complete 2,000 to 8,000 hours of on-the-job training, the administration said.
In most cases, the pilot program will allow them to begin the certification process while in custody with the expectation of completing it once they’re out and working.
Participants won’t be guaranteed jobs but will have opportunities to restart their lives, said Labor Secretary Derrick Ramsey.
“Many say we are being soft on crime,” he said. “That’s not the case at all. … We are a second-chance state.”
The project was endorsed by an executive at Lexington-based Amteck, an electrical contracting firm.
“It provides not only an opportunity for us to get skilled labor that we desperately need, but also to make a difference in employees’ lives,” said Corey Bard, its chief financial officer.
Job training has been part of prison life for some time, but the new project takes extra steps with the credentialing opportunities and outreach to employers, said Justice Secretary John Tilley.
“We want to train people for real jobs, not just to keep their hands busy,” Bevin said.
Kentucky’s Department of Corrections discharged more than 18,600 inmates last year. Thirteen percent of Kentucky children have at least one parent incarcerated, Bevin said. About half the people locked up in Kentucky prisons lack high school diplomas or GEDs, he said.
Bevin recently signed an executive order aimed at giving people with criminal records a “fair chance” to land state government jobs. That initiative means applicants - including felons - will no longer be required to check a box on initial state job applications if they have criminal records.
Bevin has endorsed legislation that would allow people convicted of crimes to pursue occupational licenses without being automatically turned away due to their criminal background. Last year, he signed into law a measure letting some convicted felons erase their criminal records.
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