“Second Chance Academy” to help inmates get jobs after serving jail time

LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- Soon, inmates at the Fayette County Detention Center will be getting a second chance at employment and life through the brand new “Second Chance Academy.”

The program helps inmates who are set to be released from jail with job skills and placement.

This is the first time a program like this is being used at the FCDC. The six week program will identify inmates who want to work and put them off the path of going back to jail and on a path towards success.

“On average the unemployment rate for individuals that are incarcerated, and that’s the United States, not just Kentucky, is about 27%,” says Amy Glasscock, the Director of Business Development for the City of Lexington.

That’s a number Lexington city and community leaders want to help improve. They say the new academy is the way to do that.

“The number one determinant of recidivism. The thing that has the most significant effect is if we can get someone a job and help them keep it,” says Mason King, the CEO of Jubilee Jobs, which helps the unemployed.

The academy is a partnership between Jubilee Jobs, the city of Lexington, and the FCDC. It’s made possible through $150,000 from American Rescue Plan Act money.
How it works: about sixty days before their release, those inmates will be working on employability, resume building, mock interviews, and interest inventory. They will then work with a jobs team to find employment.

“We’ve seen over our 15 year history the benefit in investing in second chance employees as they seek gainful employment- the profound difference it makes, not only on their lives but their family’s and the community at large. So having the opportunity to be in the Fayette County Detention Center and work directly with these inmates prior to their release, we know its going to give us a strategic opportunity to invest and impact their lives,” says King.

The academy works with the Barrier Free Re-entry Program, which will begin July 1st.

King says as they continue to work to help reduce recidivism rates in the state- they hope to also help provide an employable work force.

“Naturally, the bi-product of a program like this is going to be that we not only contribute to the community through pay-roll with-holdings and just supportive small businesses in a labor market that needs people to work, but it is also going to keep people out of jail and its going to save tax payers money, not to mention impact our public safety,” says King.

Glasscock says there are employers who are excited about the potential new employees that will come out of the program.

“The hope is that we’ve already done everything we can to alleviate those barriers prior to them exiting so that when they get out, they don’t have an issue with their identification or their transportation, whatever the issue may be,” says Glasscock.

Second Chance Academy advocates say their goal is a 75%. They anticipate helping around 100 inmates during their first year.