COVINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear announced an initiative to offer inmates a second chance by having jobs available when they are released. Welcome news to the director of Life Learning Center in Covington.
Director of development, Laura Berkemeier said, “It’s not just a job. It’s a career and it’s a living wage.”
The goal at Life Learning Center is to help people facing barriers achieve success in life and in work. The center helps people who’ve faced incarceration.
“We really are breaking that cycle. We are interrupting generational poverty. We are making sure that these individuals get employed, stay employed,” she said.
Beshear announced new programs that may further help incarcerated Kentuckians looking for employment once they reenter society. One program is a “prison-to-work” pipeline. This will be in all 13 state prisons and 19 local jails that house state inmates. Businesses in the 120 counties across the commonwealth can virtually interview inmates, with the goal of getting a start date offered before they return to society. Berkemeier said that’s important and will help get more people into the workforce.
“It is very important to notice the subset of society that is fully capable and really wants to get back into the workforce. We are really supportive of those workforce supporting efforts,” Berkemeier said.
Beshear also announced a virtual learning job skills program to help further educate, create resiliency, and boost confidence in these people looking for jobs and looking to overcome barriers in the job search. Berkemeier said those who are incarcerated or have been incarcerated face barriers others may not, and there may be stereotypes these people need to break. She believes education is key, but Life Learning Center does a care continuum that expands beyond simple education that helps people in this stage feel better in being set up for success.
“If they’re hungry sitting in the classroom, if they can’t see because they need eyeglasses, if they’re worried about child care for their children — all of those things are going to keep them from learning all of the things that they need in order to get in to the workforce,” she said.
For Berkemeier, these efforts are a step in the right direction. She said Life Learning Center will help with reentry efforts in any way they can. She said state leaders should know it may be a learning curve to further tackle barriers inmates face when searching for a job and wanting success as they reenter society.
“It’s not going to all happen day one, so I would just continue to encourage everyone to continue to learn,” Berkemeier said.