Corrections_Today_Fall_2024_Vol.86_No.3

STANDARDS & ACCREDITATION

Performance Monitoring Visit

By David Haasenritter

T he field of corrections is continually evolving as legislation, public policy, technology, litigation and more change the landscape. As the field of corrections evolves, the American Correctional Association’s (ACA) accreditation process must evolve with it. ACA accreditation is a pro cess that is continually updated to make it relevant and of value. A major change was going from standards to Performance-Based Standards and Expected Practices. ACA developed Performance-Based

Standards and Expected Prac tices to enable administrators and practitioners to not only monitor activities in their facilities but to also measure over time the outcome of their efforts. As I noted, Stan dards and Expected Practices in corrections need to evolve with the times. That’s why twice a year, the ACA Standards Committee takes submissions from practitioners and adopts or revises expected practices. In addition, the Committee reviews recommendations from ACA com mittees and ACA staff regarding the

expected practices that were tasked to them for recommendation to the ACA Standards committee. For instance, the terms and concept of restrictive housing and special man agement replaced “segregation”; and de-escalation replaced “use of force” to stay relevant to changes in our operations and laws. Going through ACA accreditation is a process that improves facility operations through adherence to clear expected practic es in all areas of facility operations such as safety, security, health care, programs and administration.

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Corrections Today | Fall 2024

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