TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – SENT, Inc., along with many other community partners, launched a new program to help inmates re-enter society and strengthen community health.

The Community Health Worker (CHW) Workforce Development Program will allow residents currently at the Topeka Correctional Facility to complete KDHE’s CHW certification program to become paid SENT employees, while completing onsite, hands-on job training in a community health worker role.

Similar to a seven-month work-release internship, the participants will gain real-world experience during the months leading up to their release by working with SENT’s Community Wellness and Neighbor Advocacy teams to help others with benefits assistance, proactive case management, and connect them to social and healthcare services.

In addition to training, participants are connected to resources and services that can help them gain long-term stability after release, such as employment readiness, healthcare, counseling, and are helped to obtain housing. The hope is to reduce recidivism among offenders.

This is a collaborative effort between SENT, Inc., the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), and the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC). Specifically, the Topeka Correctional Facility (TCF), Kansas Correctional Industries (KCI), and Health Legacy and Restorative Pathways.

“Our top priority at the Kansas Department of Corrections is ensuring that individuals return to their communities with the tools necessary for long-term success,” said Secretary of the Kansas Department of Corrections Jeff Zmuda. “This partnership with SENT, Inc. and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment is a model for effective reentry. By providing residents at the Topeka Correctional Facility with professional certification and real-world experience as Community Health Workers, we are not only strengthening the local healthcare workforce but also creating a proven pathway toward meaningful employment and a stable future.”

KDOC says Health Legacy and Restorative Pathways teaches the CHW coursework at TCF and coordinates the required service-learning activities to ensure participants meet KDHE’s certification requirements “while gaining practical, community-based experience rooted in restorative and trauma-informed practices.”

“By providing certification, on-site training, and connections to housing and healthcare, the program helps participants build careers and furthers equitable access to trusted, community-based care,” said Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment Janet Stanek. “We’re proud to support a model that strengthens neighborhoods and creates opportunities for Kansas communities.”

“This program represents what is possible when workforce development, public health, and reentry efforts align,” said Jill Rice, Operations Director of SENT, Inc. “These Community Health Workers have earned their certification, are doing meaningful work, and are gaining the experience and stability needed to successfully transition into long-term employment. At the same time, our neighbors benefit from increased access to trusted, community-based health support.”

KDOC says the program was launched with two Community Health Workers, and with plans to scale as funding and capacity allow. SENT and its partners believe this initiative can act as a replicable model for combining public health workforce development with successful reentry strategies—thus strengthening both individual outcomes and community well-being.

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