Corrections_Today_January_February_2020_Vol.82_No.1

Professional Development

Professional Development Update

Creating a Workshop

By Jessalyn Halbritter

A CA organizes two confer- ences a year: the ACA Winter Conference and the Congress of Correction. The con- ferences welcome their attendees from an extensive array of correc- tional sectors, including health care, mental health, juveniles, security and community corrections. A wide audience of correctional staff and leaders attend the workshops that are presented at each conference. The workshops provide presenters with an opportunity to discuss the latest

trends and current issues in correc- tions in an educational forum. The presentation of a workshop allows an individual to share their knowledge with their peers in the correctional community. Workshops are conducted in 90-minute sessions and are led by experts in their respective fields. There are nine categories presented: ACA resources, facility design, jails, juveniles, reentry, security, special offenders, staff training and sustainability/green.

All workshops provide continuing education units (CEUs) to the attend- ees. Health care workshops provide continuing education units (CEs) for nurses as well as continuing educa- tion units (CMEs) for physicians and other health care practitioners. Receiving continuing education units allows attendees to earn professional recognition and growth. Workshop proposals for the 150 th Congress of Correction in Cincinnati, Ohio are currently being accepted and can be submitted at www.aca.org. Here’s how you can submit a work- shop for next summer’s conference: The workshop proposal process The title of the workshop is the first item when creating a workshop proposal. It is the first impression of the workshop that the audience sees, so it must catch their attention but be direct and to the point. Next is the summary that describes what the workshop en- compasses. The summary must include how the topics will advance either the practice or professional development of the participant or

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70 — January/February 2020 Corrections Today