SOMERSET, Ky. (LEX 18) — Since 2018, a Pulaski County Detention Center program has helped prepare inmates to pursue education and employment after their release.

“We did life skills classes and other things to kind of get us prepared to go back into the workforce,” said Brandy Cook, former inmate. “It changed my entire life. It literally set the course of my life.”

Finding employment can be a struggle for former inmates, but the programs at the detention center make a difference.

“Whenever you have somebody that encourages you and supports you and believes in you, it really does make the world of difference,” Meranda Ashburn added.

Kentucky’s overall recidivism rate was 31% in early 2025, according to the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. That means 31% of people released from state c

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