2026 ACA 156th Congress of Correction Pittsburgh_Program Book

Moderator: Ohio Department of Youth Services Staff Speakers: Victoria Baker , OTD, OTR/L, and Co-Founder & Treasurer of Unlocking Potential Therapies, Dublin, Ohio; Ryan Smith , Bureau Chief of Behavioral Health, Ohio Department of Youth Services, Columbus, Ohio The Silver Tide: How the Aging Demographic will Result in Changes to the Operation, Structure and Policy of Corrections Room 319 Primary Community of Focus: Healthcare/ Other Overview: How the aging demographic will result in changes to the operation, structure and policy of corrections. Talking points will include: • Statistics on the rise of the aging population within society and the associated rise in chronic health conditions. • How these changes are already being felt in corrections; provide statistics on the associated costs, projected increases in % population of older individuals being incarcerated, as well as projected increases in costs to care for these individuals. • How being incarcerated already increases someone’s likelihood of developing a chronic condition, disability, or cognitive impairment. • The overall increase in age and chronic conditions is being felt at a faster rate in corrections than in society as a whole, making developing solutions on how to provide care, custody and control for this population a priority. We will discuss the following areas: • The need for security practices to be updated with a greater focus on medical needs. • How to provide a community standard of care within the correctional system. • How to do this while also cutting costs- providing the greatest value to the taxpayer. • The challenges of reintegration post-incarceration. • A greater focus when building new correctional facilities towards the aging

Thursday, July 30 ▼ 8 a.m.–12 p.m.

discussion prompts to connect lessons learned to their own agency contexts. Moderator: Maggie Black , Project Director, The Moss Group, Washington, District of Columbia Speaker: Leanne Scott , Director, Women’s and Veterans Services, New Jersey Department of Corrections, Trenton, New Jersey Regulation Reset: Transforming Correctional Culture through OT-Led Comfort Rooms Room 317 Primary Community of Focus: Behavioral Health Overview: Traditional de-escalation in juvenile justice often lacks sensory-informed strategies necessary to prevent a crisis. This session introduces a pilot regulation program led by occupational therapists contracted with the Ohio Department of Youth Services. Participants will explore the core components of this three-part program and discuss how sensory-based protocols help shift facility culture from “compliance and control” to “regulation and connection.” By analyzing implementation barriers and the pilot’s impact on separation and restraint rates, presenters provide a scalable blueprint for reducing facility violence while improving youth engagement in programming.

WORKSHOPS

100 — ACA 156 th Congress of Correction | Pittsburgh