Dwight Correctional Center

Dwight Correctional Center was an Illinois Department of Corrections maximum security prison for adult females. It is located at 23813 E. 3200 North Road in Nevada Township, unincorporated Livingston County, Illinois, near Dwight.[1][2] Prior to the 2011 abolition of the state death penalty,[3] Dwight Correctional Center housed the State of Illinois female death row.[4]

History

The prison was originally opened on November 24, 1930 as the Oakdale Reformatory for Women. It sits on 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land. The facility was closed at the end of March 2013. Inmates were combined with the female inmates from the Lincoln Correctional Center and moved into a former men's facility, the Logan Correctional Center, located in Lincoln, IL.[5]

Programs

[6]

Helping Paws Program

The Helping Paws program, which began at Dwight Correctional Center in 2000, is a service dog training program in partnership with MidAmerica Service Dogs' Foundation. The program teaches life and job skills to the offenders as they live and work with the dogs 24 hours a day. The program also ran a grooming program that serviced both staff and community dogs. The service dog training program was moved to Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, IL when Dwight closed in March of 2013. The program continues to train service dogs with MidAmerica Service Dogs' Foundation as well as Paws Giving Independence and has recently added a new training program for dogs from shelters in the local area.

Correctional Industry Program

The garment shop provided sewn items to male and female offenders throughout the state including blue and black pants, blue shirts, pajamas and dusters.

Day Camp

This program was originally known as weekend Camp Celebration program,[7] which was a one-day camp out for mother (inmate) and child (16 years of age and younger) bonding. The camping took place at the institution

Vocational Programs

This program provided relevant job skills to inmates for use upon release to lessen the chance of recidivism.

Lake Land College

The college provided computer technology and business management courses to equip inmates with the skills needed to obtain a job in data processing and the office environment. There was also a commercial cooking program, which prepared offenders for jobs in the restaurant or food service industry. Additionally, two dog programs taught inmates the skills to be able to groom dogs and provide service dog training.

References

  1. ↑ "Dwight village, Illinois." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on September 1, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Dwight Correctional Center." Illinois Department of Corrections. Retrieved on September 1, 2001.
  3. ↑ Smith, Matt."Illinois abolishes death penalty." CNN. March 9, 2011.
  4. ↑ "DOC Report Online." Illinois Department of Corrections. Retrieved on September 1, 2010.
  5. ↑ Dwight prison to close by month's end Associated Press. Retrieved on June 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ Illinois Department of Corrections
  7. ↑ National Institute of Corrections

External links

Coordinates: 41°05′51″N 88°28′34″W / 41.09750°N 88.47611°W