Corrections_Today_Summer_2025_Vol.87_No.2

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, MEMBERSHIP & ENGAGEMENT

ACA Certifications update Commission on Correctional Certification By Art Beeler

W e know many of you may wonder what the certification commission is doing. It has been months since some of the tests were given and people were recognized for meeting standards for professional practice. For the last few months, we have been working hard to make the certification process more relevant and accessible for all who wish to get this set of credentials. Instead of having many different exams, the commission has decided to have one, which would recognize that the person is a correctional professional. The passage of this one exam would make the person a Certified Correc tional Professional. The information for the exam would come from the expected practices of the various disciplines of the American Correctional Association. This will allow the commission to update the ques tions when new editions of the expected practices are published. We wanted to make sure everyone from the new Correctional Officer to the Warden/Superintendent and everyone in between had the same base of information needed to be certified as a correctional worker. After a person completes the CCP exam, several areas have

may become certified in more than one specialty area. Each specialty examination will generally consist of 20 additional questions. We have discussed the cost of the exams extensively. We want to make certification affordable for anyone. A person seeking accreditation as a Certified Correctional Professional would cost $50 with your payment including your membership. The BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) is that we believe everyone working in the corrections profes sion needs to have an opportunity to be a certified correctional profes sional. Acquiring this professional certification should not cost the candidate an arm and a leg. It will announce to the world that you work as a public safety profession al, complicated and complex with many different missions, and are proud of it. CT

additional questions to certify an employee in a specific discipline. These are in no way complete, and if you believe you work in a dis cipline which may not have been included at the onset, let us know the interest and we may add the discipline to the list. We envision that persons may become certified in more than one specialty area. Food service deserves attention, but the commission must review and add it if there is consensus it would be meaningful. The following areas have been identified as an add ed certification to begin the process. These questions would cover areas such as security, health care, mental health care and community correc tions, to mention just a few. Another thing we are working on is to have the process digitized. You will receive your exam scores the same day you take the exam. We are still working on the categories’ acro nyms, but they will be determined before we give the first digitized ex amination. We envision that persons

Arthur F. Beeler, Jr. (Art) is the Chair of the Commission on Correctional Certification at the American Correctional Association. Art retired from the Federal Bureau of Prisons in January 2009 after a career of more than thirty-three years in the Bureau of Prisons.

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