Accreditation

The Process of Accreditation

Correctional facilities, field services, and agencies may become certified as having met or exceeded a comprehensive set of standards established by the ACA through a series of self-audits, reviews, site visits, and formal hearings, which may take up to 18 months to complete. Once it has been awarded, accreditation lasts for three years. ACA endorsement may be given to pretrial detention and incarceration facilities for adults as well as to juvenile institutional services and community corrections services (probation, parole, and intermediate sanctions) for both adult and juvenile offenders. There are also accreditation standards for health care services within corrections.

Accreditation requires far more than applying a new coat of paint or adding a second dessert on Sundays. First, the agency conducts a self-evaluation of its policies, finances, physical plant, staffing, training and professional development, health care, inmate programs, and emergency services. This evaluation seeks to measure how well the agency is already complying with ACA standards (many of which are merely sound correctional practices) and which areas need improvements. The self-evaluation permits the agency to begin the process of improvement prior to a formal audit. During the 12 to 18 months that typically elapse between a self-evaluation and a formal audit, agencies work toward full compliance with ACA standards.

The formal audit is conducted by the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections, whose 25 members are drawn from juvenile and adult correctional associations, architects, health care associations, and interested persons outside of corrections. The commission sends three to five members to investigate the agency or institution under review. To be accredited, the institution must demonstrate 100% and 90% or better compliance with mandatory and nonmandatory standards, respectively. After its visit, the commission produces a final report in which the members either recommend ACA accreditation or describe the additional efforts that are required to meet the relevant standards.

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