Council is planning new ways to help reduce recidivism

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. –The Southern Kentucky Re-Entry Council is planning new initiatives to help those incarcerated successfully rejoin the community after serving time.

At the council’s monthly meeting Thursday in Bowling Green, they welcomed two new members, Serenda Lobue from Hope Harbor rape crisis center and Sarah Perrine from Freedom House.

The council is partnering with Warren County’s Jail to help the inmates get birth certificates and IDs for when they’re released from jail.

It’s one way that the council hopes to reduce recidivism.

“We partnered with the jail and provided the funds to be able to get them identification. A lot of people think that maybe because they have identification that it’s not an important factor, but a lot of people coming out of jail may have lost their identification. So, that’s going to be an important step just to find employment,” said Douglas Miles, co-chairman of the Southern Kentucky Re-Entry Council.

The re-entry council also discussed having an upcoming expungement fair in Monroe County to help eligible former inmates clear their criminal records.