The Best New Investment Legislators Can Make in the 2022 Session
To reduce recidivism, Kentucky can take a small but meaningful step prior to release
Through a series of smart policy reforms, the Commonwealth has made substantial strides toward reducing its sky-high recidivism rate in the last five years, improving from an abysmal 44.5% to an improving, but still problematic, 35.4%. A lingering impediment to successful reintegration into society for Kentuckians leaving incarceration is the lack of access to a state-issued photo ID.
The process of securing a photo ID requires life documents such as birth certificates, social security cards, and/or other state-verified papers—to which many reentering people no longer have access. Obtaining this paperwork, especially during COVID-19, can take weeks or even months. Then fees and transportation challenges present further hurdles to obtaining a photo ID.
“Too many reentering people are stepping into the hallway of community without the key card to access any of its resources—a photo ID,” said Mandy Simpson, Director of Public Policy for Smart on Crime partner organization Metro United Way. Simpson helps to lead an initiative known as #LiberationIdentification with a plethora of lived-experience experts, service providers, business leaders, health and housing advocates, and other groups. “People cannot wait months for paperwork before applying for employment, securing food, receiving medical care, and finding a place to sleep. Our justice system can set people up for reentry success by simply issuing IDs to individuals before they are released from our jails and prisons. It’s a smart investment that demonstrates true commitment to fresh starts,” Simpson continued.
The likelihood that people will return to the criminal legal system increases due to the significant, early obstacles caused by the lack of a photo ID. The federal government worked to overcome these challenges in 2018 when a large, bipartisan coalition of lawmakers passed and President Trump subsequently signed the First Step Act, which required the Federal Bureau of Prisons to assist inmates in applying for a social security card, driver’s license or other official photo identification, and birth certificate.
“We must maximize this effort at state and local levels,” Simpson said. “Without investment in foundational supports like a reentry ID program, Kentucky will continue to pay the high budgetary, economic, and social costs of incarceration and recidivism, all of which are compounded in our present pandemic landscape.”
To ease crowding and limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus in 2020, the state granted early release to Kentuckians convicted of low-level offenses who were also nearing the conclusion of their sentences. However, those who reentered emerged into a landscape of office closures, service suspensions, and barriers to their new path forward, including the virtual impossibility of gaining employment without a valid form of photo ID.
The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce’s recent report, “20 Years in the Making – Kentucky’s Workforce Crisis” underscored this challenge, noting that the unemployment rate of formerly incarcerated individuals is 27%. This fact surely contributes to Kentucky’s recidivism rate and its position as the state with the third-worst labor participation rate in the country, illuminating the imperative to better integrate individuals leaving the justice system into our community and our workforce.
However, the Commonwealth has reason for hope. HB 497, championed by Chairwoman Kim Moser, passed during the 2021 regular session of the Kentucky General Assembly and stipulated that, “when a prisoner is released, the department [of Corrections] may, in conjunction with the Transportation Cabinet, issue to that prisoner an operator’s license or personal identification card that is a voluntary travel ID document pursuant to KRS 186.417.” Building upon this statutory framework, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and fellow #LiberationIdentification partners began working with the Department of Corrections and Transportation Cabinet to launch a pilot program issuing state IDs to those within several months of leaving incarceration. Since March 2021, the pilot has scaled to eight state prisons and one county jail and issued more than 300 IDs.
Advocates have their sights set on building on the successes of the pilot program by expanding it to all state prisons and jails. “This is one of the smartest, highest yield investments the state can make in the 2022 session,” Simpson said. “It costs around $35,000 a year to incarcerate someone in a state facility. Providing a state-issued photo ID before reentry costs about $12. By issuing IDs, we can lower the odds someone might return and increase the chances of someone entering the workforce at a time when businesses are likely to extend a second chance. This is a win-win.”