* The Herald & Review…

Before her mother went to prison, Olivia Weeks was a competent student but not an outstanding one — certainly not one on track for an Ivy League education.

Then her mother and only surviving parent, Tabitha Weeks, pleaded guilty in 2012 to aggravated DUI in the death of Craig Payne, 41, of Bonnie. She served five years at the Decatur Correctional Center and was paroled in January.

When her mother left, Olivia Weeks, then 12 years old, made a choice to excel. She determined that she would not let the “black cloud of judgment” following her around her hometown of West Frankfort keep her from succeeding — and she would not let her mother’s mistake wipe away all the good she had done in her life. […]

Soon, the senior at Frankfort Community High School will move on to a new challenge: Harvard University, where she’ll begin classes with a full-ride scholarship in August. […]

Olivia Weeks shared her story at the prison’s volunteer awards banquet, saying she wanted to thank those who made it possible for her to have a relationship with her mother through the reunification program offered at the minimum-security women’s prison.

Available to mothers who have children 17 or younger, the reunification program began in 2000 and allows children to spend time with mothers in a designated housing unit. They can talk, play games, work together on the child’s homework and even participate in counseling, Warden Shelith Hansbro said.

* AP…

Illinois officials have re-opened a former youth detention site as a center to help offenders learn life skills after release.

The first 20 offenders were transferred Tuesday to the Murphysboro Life Skills Re-Entry Center in Southern Illinois.

Department of Corrections officials say there will be orientation before educational programs, classes for job readiness and cognitive behavior therapy begin.

Other assistance will include teaching skills such as managing a bank account, using the latest technology and scheduling doctor’s appointments.

* But..

Last year, the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) spent $276 on books for its educational programming across 28 correctional facilities, according to data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. In comparison, the state prison system spent roughly $750,000 each year on books in the early 2000s. In 2005, spending on books dropped to $264,000. In the last five years, IDOC spent a total of roughly $140,000 on reading materials. That figure represents a 96 percent decrease from what was spent on books between 2000 and 2005. […]

The steep drop-off in funding for books in state prisons could be costing the state more money in the long-run. Research indicates education programs reduce recidivism rates, and libraries play a role in that work, according to Lois Davis, co-author of a Rand Corporation meta-analysis of education programs in prisons.

“We showed that for every dollar a department of corrections invests in education programs, they can save up to five dollars in reincarceration costs,” she said.