LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This month, Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., signed an executive order creating the Governor’s Council of Second Chance Employers.
The goal is to help formerly incarcerated people find employment.
Second Hope Ministries, a nonprofit in Louisville, is helping formerly incarcerated men rebuild their lives.
Thaddeus Grant said he was arrested for possession and manufacturing methamphetamine. He served two years of his sentence in prison and got parole.
“When you go home, the destruction you’ve left behind from before you went to prison is just sitting there waiting for you and you’re asking basically the people that you’ve run through the wringer, that you’ve hurt in so many different ways, to give you a place to live and to pay for you and do all these things,” said Thaddeus Grant, resident and house manager at Second Hope.
Grant said he relapsed and served about another 20 months in prison.
“I got another possession charge. I got a DUI, I got another possession charge while I’m running from parole, they finally got me,” Thaddeus said.
When he got out this time, he said, he went to Second Hope Ministries, a nonprofit that is helping formerly incarcerated men get back on their feet.
“So, within that year, I was able to get a job. I worked at Embassy Suites for a while, and then I got into college. I’ve brought my credit score up an over 700. I’ve got $5,000 saved up,” he said.
The Governor’s Council of Second Chance Employers is made up of 15 business and community leaders and it will educate others on the benefits of hiring formerly incarcerated people.
“The goal is to reduce recidivism, thereby reducing crime, all while increasing our labor workforce, while putting families back together and providing stability. That is a win-win-win, if and when we do it right,” Beshear said.
Second Hope works with men as early as two years before they are released from prison, helping them with resumes, job interviews and recovery.
“We found that, the guys who complete our program every six months, zero recidivism rate. One hundred percent of our guys that come through our program will stay on track and become sober,” said Gary Polsgrove, executive director and founder of Second Hope.
Grant is working on his associate’s degree and is hoping to get his bachelors, and master’s in clinical psychology in hopes of becoming a licensed clinical therapist.
“I feel like a normal person, that may not be a big thing to somebody who’s never been in this situation, but you get used to being a number in prison, and you think that that’s all you are and that’s all you’ll ever be in this place,” Grant said.
The governor’s council will provide an annual report to the governor on or before Jan. 31 each year detailing activities, findings and recommendations.
To help inmates get ready for the workforce after incarceration, the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women is creating a cosmetology school, Beshear said. Inmates who complete 1,500 hours of instruction and pass written and practical exams will be licensed in cosmetology.