By Amy Graff
SFGate, San Francisco
EL DORADO, Calif. — Reality star Kim Kardashian is better known for her wildly popular line of form-fitting shapewear, but she’s also working in a far more serious field — criminal justice reform.
Kardashian continued that work on Aug. 29 by visiting with groups of young California inmates learning to become firefighters at the Growlersburg Conservation Camp #33. The Georgetown camp is managed by Cal Fire and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“Through this voluntary program they can fully expunge their felony records when they are released and now can go into firefighting careers when they get out,” Kardashian wrote in an Instagram post.
The camp on the outskirts of a former gold mining town in the Sierra foothills has long been a place where inmates are trained in the grueling, dangerous work of wildland firefighting. In the past, the camp has only been open to incarcerated individuals with less severe criminal records, like individuals found guilty of driving under the influence, said Capt. Fred Money, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections. A year-old pilot program, dubbed the Youthful Offender Program, is bringing inmates ages 18 to 25 who committed more serious crimes, including manslaughter, to the camp, Money said. To be considered for the program, inmates need to have no disciplinary issues and be showing a commitment to a better future, such as working on their GED.
“In the past, they would have been excluded normally. Instead of just sending them to be on the yard and being indoctrinated with prison politics and all that, they can go here,” Money said. “A lot of these YOP offenders that do come in at a young age, 21 or 22, they’ve never really worked, they’ve never held jobs. But this really gives them something to be a part of, be a part of a team. They become a part of a brotherhood.”
Kardashian has repeatedly used her celebrity to shine a light on prison reform. In February, she visited Valley State Prison and Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla with her sister Khloé, and in April, she joined Vice President Kamala Harris at a roundtable focused on criminal justice reform. When Donald Trump was in the White House, she famously pushed him to release a woman serving a life sentence for a drug-dealing conviction who had been jailed for 20 years.
Last week, Kardashian brought her sister Kendall Jenner along with her to the camp and the two posted for photos with the inmates of the new program. Inmates from another program at Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp also joined. Kardashian shared photos on her Instagram account.
“She just wanted to come and learn about it and shine a positive light on the program,” Money said. “She was down-to-earth and very open to meeting and talking with the YOPs.”
Money said that some inmates shared their experiences with Kardashian and Jenner.
“There was a period where we had a sit-down chat and one of the individuals said this is a huge second chance,” Money said. “He said, ‘I wasn’t supposed to be in camp and because of this program I’m here.’ He said it was a blessing to be able to get out from behind the walls ... no chain link, no barbed wire, and be treated like a firefighter.”
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