Corrections and the ACA

¶ … ACA Web site www.aca.org.

Standards and accreditation: ACA

Facts:

As part of its standards and accreditation principles, the American Correctional Association has worked to better enforce the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). "With the release of the national PREA standards in 2012, ACA and its certified auditors have played an important role in compliance for dozens of facilities in the fields of adult, juvenile, and community corrections" ("PREA," 2014).

Standards are explicitly designed to improve the welfare of multiple stakeholders. They are said to "enhance correctional practices for the benefit inmates, staff, administrators, and the public" ("Standards," 2014). Standards are not simply for the good of the public or corrections officers: ideally, they serve a rehabilitative and restorative function as well for inmates and for the community at large.

Different standards exist for different types of institutions; also there is a difference between mandatory and non-mandatory standards.

Would I seek accreditation?

There are many benefits to seeking accreditation. First, it is confirmation from an outside authority regarding the ethical standards maintained at the facility. Secondly, the higher non-mandatory standards encourage correctional institutions to effectively 'raise the bar' on excellence. The ACA provides guidelines about meeting the higher standards that can prove very useful for institutions in the near and far future. Having objective standards encourages benchmarking in a positive fashion.

The ACA also provides valuable resource for education for administrators and corrections officers about how to improve the efficiency and safety of jails. One of the negative aspects of the profession for many corrections officers is that they often feel very alone in terms of their roles and responsibilities. The ACA works to counteract that with its initiatives to educate officers and offer them new, proactive solutions. Education can be expensive and the ACA provides proven training materials and resources.