The Commonwealth of Kentucky administers a variety of services/programs designed to leverage the potential for formerly incarcerated individuals to participate in the labor market. In parallel, the state also promotes registered apprenticeships as a promising avenue for individuals to access paid on-the-job training that, in many cases, qualifies participants for continued employment in high-demand, high-wage occupations. The following analysis highlights data from the Kentucky Longitudinal Data System (KLDS) that speaks to the experiences of individuals at the intersection of these efforts: formerly incarcerated individuals who go on to participate in apprenticeships.

How common is apprenticeship participation among formerly incarcerated individuals?

By incorporating data from the Kentucky Office of Employer and Apprenticeship Services (OEAS) and the Kentucky Department of Corrections (DOC), the KLDS can characterize the volume of individuals who have experienced a period of incarceration and subsequently participated in a post-release apprenticeship. In total, 233 individuals with incarcerations dating back to 1975 had, by 2023, begun an apprenticeship at some point within five years of their incarceration release date.

Echoing trends identified in previous KYSTATS research on apprenticeship participants as a whole, the majority (57%) of these individuals were white (132 participants, compared to 101 participants of other races). This marks a notable difference from the demographic composition of all individuals released from incarceration in the same time period (71% white). The converse was true for males, who represented 96% of recently-released apprenticeship participants, but 85% of all individuals released from incarceration since 1975.

Given that Kentuckians at large participated in more than 3,000 active apprenticeships in Kentucky during 2023 alone, formerly incarcerated individuals comprise a small portion of apprenticeship participants. That year, for example, only 21 individuals who'd been released from incarceration in the previous five years began an apprenticeship. 

How common is reincarceration among apprenticeship participants?

Given that individuals can potentially find sustained employment through apprenticeship participation, the ensuing economic stability afforded to participants may play some role in preventing reincarceration. Although an exploration of statistical relationships between these experiences is beyond the scope of this analysis, the KLDS allows for a comprehensive look at the volume of apprenticeship participants who go on to become reincarcerated. Only individuals starting an apprenticeship within two years of their release will be included for this step of the analysis. Additionally, only apprenticeships starting on or before January 1st, 2020 will be considered, so as to allow for an equally long window (three years) within which the cohort members may or may not experience reincarceration.

Among these individuals, 87 participants released from incarceration who began an apprenticeship within two years of their release did not become reincarcerated within three years of their apprenticeship start date. Fewer than ten¹ individuals meeting the same conditions did go on to become reincarcerated.

Volume of Previously Incarcerated Apprenticeship Participants by

Reincarceration Status Three Years After Apprenticeship Start Date

Source: Kentucky Longitudinal Data System (KLDS), Kentucky Center for Statistics (KYSTATS). Data accessed 7/28/24.

Summary and Future Research

Relatively few formerly incarcerated individuals go on to participate in apprenticeships within five years of their release, and these individuals make up a small portion of overall apprenticeship participants in Kentucky. Among those who do, white and male individuals make up the majority of participants along respective demographic breakouts. The percentage of post-incarceration apprenticeship participants who are male exceeds the overall percentage of formerly incarcerated individuals who are male, but the percentage of post-incarceration apprenticeship participants who are white is lower than the percentage of all formerly incarcerated individuals who are white. Finally, among individuals who experienced recent incarcerations, a comparatively low number went on to become reincarcerated if they began an apprenticeship.

As apprenticeship participation among formerly incarcerated individuals (and the larger labor force) increases, larger volumes of data may allow KYSTATS to perform fuller analyses that speak to statistical relationships between apprenticeship participation, justice-related phenomena, and other factors.

Footnotes

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As part of a larger policy of protecting personally identifying information, KYSTATS does not publish aggregate totals calculated from fewer than ten individuals' data.