At the Simpson County Detention Center in Franklin, inmates have the opportunity to connect with their families through a reading program called Stories from the Heart.

At the Warren County Regional Jail, inmates will soon have the chance to learn the communication, critical thinking and teamwork skills that are taught routinely at many local businesses.

If your idea of incarceration has been formed by watching “The Shawshank Redemption” or “Cool Hand Luke,” think again. Faced with overcrowding and the high cost of incarceration, jails and prisons are taking steps to better prepare inmates for re-entry into society.

As they should.

Warren County First District Magistrate Doug Gorman put it best when speaking about the implementation of the Soft Skills Boot Camp curriculum by Warren County Jailer Stephen Harmon.

“(Harmon) can keep the doors locked and feed (inmates) or he can try to make a difference in their lives,” Gorman said.

The magistrate said using the soft skills training developed by Greg Coker Development and used by employers in several states can give inmates “the tools that give them a chance at success when they get out.”

Why is that important? The numbers tell the story.

According to statistics compiled by the Vera Institute of Justice, incarceration costs an average of more than $31,000 per inmate, per year, nationwide. That figure is slightly lower in Kentucky state prisons and lower still in county jails, but it’s still a drain on tax dollars.

It only makes sense, then, to try to avoid such costs through helping those who have served their time make a successful re-entry into society.

It’s a tough task, as the Bureau of Justice Statistics can attest.

Five out of six state prisoners released in 2005 across 30 states were arrested at least once during the nine years following their release, the bureau tells us in its 2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism.

Overall, released state prisoners were arrested an estimated 2 million times within the nine years following release in 2005.

Doing the math on such relapses can be despairing, even depressing. It’s a trend that hits taxpayers in their wallets and is also a drag on society as a whole.

Harmon, who has dealt with an overcrowded facility during his two years as jailer, knows all about recidivism; which is why he is embracing the Soft Skills Boot Camp.

The training, if completed successfully, can knock 30 days off an inmate’s sentence and maybe ensure that he won’t be serving another one.

“This will enhance the inmates’ communication skills and their ability to relate to people,” the jailer said. “It should help make them more attractive to employers.”

At a time when many employers are struggling to find qualified workers, preparing inmates for the workforce is a sound strategy. It dovetails with the expungement fairs promoted by the South Central Workforce Development Board in which former inmates learn how to erase their criminal records as a route to getting back into the workforce.

“Let’s train them and help them get that job,” said Coker, a Simpson County native who has begun providing to inmates the same soft skills training he does for industry.

With the Warren County jail being among the first to utilize the Coker training, Harmon is to be commended for his foresight and for making an investment that promises to pay big dividends.

Likewise, Simpson County Jailer Eric Vaughn is to be applauded for instituting the Stories from the Heart program that allows volunteers from the Simpson County Literacy Center to record inmates reading books to their children.

Such an activity can only help those inmates maintain a connection with their families, which should help them when they make the transition back into society.