By Rose Krzton-Presson
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-992521.mp3
Central City, KY – Picture working in prison and you might imagine stamping out license plates or swinging a pick axe on a rock pile. But in Kentucky, inmates are instead building bookshelves, high school lockers, and even making soap. Rose Krzton-Presson has more on this program that provides job skills to inmates around the state.
In Central City, Kentucky, there's a fenced in area close to the center of town. Green River Correctional Complex hardly has the looming image of what you'd imagine a prison to look like. Buildings are scattered over some green hills and inmates donning the orange jump suits are milling around between buildings in pairs or trios. It's lunchtime right now. Soon some of them will return to the production line. Kentucky Correctional Industries works with Green River to provide inmates with a job opportunity. Sales representative Renee Howell says this program started almost 200 years ago.
"Back in, gosh as long ago as 1821 (the governor then was John Adair), he had sent a message to legislature asking that they create a program to instruct inmates both academically and in trade."
Toney Bailey is the plant manager for the furniture production at Green River Correctional Complex. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the program, which works under Kentucky Correctional Industries.
"Well here at Green River, we start our inmates at about 7:30 in the morning. Depending on our workload, we can work as late as 9 at night. Basically what we try to do is mimic a real world experience working in a factory."
At Green River Correctional Complex, inmates can apply to work in the furniture plant. They go through a hiring process- much like any other place of employment. They apply, they interview, and if their application gets approved, they report bright and early.
"The primary goal is to educate the inmates in a job skill and teach them a good work ethic so that when they are released from prison, they can get a job, not reoffend, and not come back to prison."
And it's working. Bailey says that inmates involved in KCI programs have a recidivism rate of 75% less than the general inmate population.
"That's an enormous difference in somebody coming back to prison and our taxdollars supporting that person again. It's a win-win for us. We get a trained individual that's going back into society and not reoffending."
Green River's plant started in the mid-90s. But KCI programs produce more than just furniture. Each facility around the state works with a different product including: textiles, shelves, lockers, soap, brail, coupon processing, and their newest program recycling.
"It's not just license plates anymore."
So where do all these products go? They get sold. A new building in McCracken County was completely furnished by KCI products last summer. It houses Building Inspection, Code Enforcement, the Road Department, and Emergency Management- including bunk beds the used during emergencies. County Building Inspector David Flowers says that once they saw what KCI had to offer, it was no question of where their new furnishings would come from.
"Nothing that we had anticipated seeing that inmates could do this quality of work. So it was astounding what could be done and at a very reasonable price."
The prices are low because KCI streamlines their production, working from raw materials. The cheap labor prices don't hurt, either. Inmates are paid anywhere from 25 to 95 cents per hour, depending on skill level and length of employment. The rest of the money goes back into the KCI pool. Manager Toney Bailey says all profits serve as rollover to get next year's productions started.
"The program accepts no tax dollars to support itself. We actually support ourself off ourselves. So that's a benefit for the people of Kentucky because we're not spending our money, or some people may even refer to it as 'wasting our money' on training these inmate employees."
Green River's KCI furniture plant continues to produce furnishings for low prices, independent of government funding, and reducing prison recidivism rates. But Bailey says his main goal is for inmates to jump right back into the workforce when they are released and not experience a lag because of unemployment. He's even been used as a reference on job applications.