KEWANEE, Ill. (AP) - The Illinois Department of Corrections is opening its first facility for offenders nearing the end of their sentences where they can learn important life skills.
The Life Skills Re-entry Center is located in a former youth correctional site in the western Illinois town of Kewanee that had been targeted for closure.
The new facility will teach inmates skills to help them readjust to society outside of prison, such as how to manage a bank account, get a job or use the latest technology.
In a news release Monday, IDOC Director John Baldwin says the center is aimed at ending a "revolving door" in which nearly half of inmates who leave state custody return within three years.
The facility will begin taking inmates as early as Feb. 16.
