New Kewanee prison seeks to 'fundamentally change how we do corrections'

Sam Stewart has spent most of the years since he graduated from United Township High School in 1998 in prison, and he is set to complete his third prison sentence next year — with no plans to come back.

"This will be my last time," Mr. Stewart said Tuesday at the new Kewanee Life Skills Re-Entry Center, where he's housed. His confidence is motivated by a desire to be with a young son, and bolstered, he said, by the center's skills training and respect from the staff.

"They really care," he said. "They want to help you. This place, they're definitely more focused on going home than just doing time. They're trying to prepare you and give you the necessary skills to succeed once you get home and not come back, instead of just sticking you in a cell." Read the entire QCOnline story.