"Life-Skills" Re-Entry Center Opens For Ex-Offenders
Chicago (AP) – Illinois officials have re-opened a former youth detention site as a center to help offenders learn life skills after they are released.
According to the Department of Corrections, the center will offer educational programs to help offenders get ready to re-enter the workforce. The life-skills center will offer classes for job readiness and cognitive behavior therapy.
The first 20 offenders were transferred Tuesday to the Murphysboro Life Skills Re-Entry Center in southern Illinois.
Other assistance will include teaching skills, such as managing a bank account, using the latest technology, and scheduling doctor's appointments.
Murphysboro is one of three life-skills sites scheduled to open as part of Governor Bruce Rauner's campaign to reduce the prison population and restructure criminal justice.
The first center opened in Kewanee in February 2017.
Corrections officials are working on creating another re-entry site for women at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)