GOV TO PROPOSE JOB-TRAINING CENTER AT DRUG-REHAB PRISON

SPRINGFIELD -- A job-training center would be added to a Downstate
prison -- the nation's only correctional facility focusing exclusively
on drug treatment -- under plans Gov. Blagojevich is expected to
unveil this week, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

"This is allowing inmates to step up to the next level after finishing
drug rehabilitation and develop skills they can actually use in their
community," one of the sources said.

If approved by the General Assembly, the $11.8 million center would be
located at La Salle County's Sheridan prison, which had been closed
but reopened in January as a place for criminals who have drug
problems and were sentenced to 6 to 24 months on any charge.

As envisioned by the governor, inmates who successfully complete the
rehab program will be eligible for computer, construction and "life
skills" training at the new center. They also could earn a high school
diploma.

The aim is to reduce the number of inmates who commit crimes after
being released from prison, according to sources familiar with the
plan.

Currently, Illinois' recidivism rate is at an all-time high -- with 54
percent of prisoners returning to jail for a second or third time.

Despite proposed closings of other prisons, administration officials
say Sheridan is the best spot because job training goes hand in hand
with drug treatment.

But the head of the union that represents prison workers called the
plan a slap in the face for employees at the Vandalia and St. Charles
correctional facilities, both of which are slated for closure.

"Why would they want to close down one facility with great
job-training programs, only to build another?" asked Henry Bayer of
the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Council 31.

If legislators approve the 200-cell project, federal funds would pick
up $9 million of the tab for the new construction.

Sheridan currently houses about 500 inmates but could hold up to 1,400
prisoners who opt to spend their terms in treatment.