Delaware News


Department of Correction Marks National Accreditation Milestone In 2022

News | Date Posted: Tuesday, January 3, 2023



Dover, DE – As 2022 draws to a close the Delaware Department of Correction marks the success of its
decade-long effort to earn national accreditation across DOC facilities from the American Correctional
Association (ACA). This past summer at the ACA Summer Conference in New Orleans the Commission
on Accreditation for Corrections voted unanimously to grant ACA accreditation to James T. Vaughn
Correctional Center (JTVCC) and grant ACA reaccreditation to Delaware Probation and Parole. With
JTVCC’s initial accreditation, for the first time in its history all Delaware Department of
Correction Level 5 prison facilities have secured national accreditation.

“Ten years ago, the Delaware Department of Correction set an ambitious goal to achieve national
accreditation by the American Correctional Association and this year, despite the ongoing headwinds
from the COVID pandemic and national employment challenges, we reached a historic
milestone,” Department of Correction Commissioner Monroe B. Hudson Jr. said. “Earning and
maintaining ACA accreditation represents the gold standard of correctional practices and it requires
adoption of industry-leading policies and practices, a willingness to subject ourselves to rigorous outside
scrutiny, a commitment to maintaining transparency at all levels, and a track record of continuous
improvement to meet our dual mission of public safety and offender rehabilitation. I offer my sincere
thanks to all of our bureau leaders, wardens, regional managers, our entire DOC staff, healthcare
providers, and educational and treatment partners for working together to earn this national
recognition. ACA accreditation helps ensure that we are putting proven world class practices to work
here in Delaware and it puts us on a solid footing to achieve even more success in the decade to come.”

To secure ACA accreditation, correctional facilities first complete months to years of best practice
analysis and internal policy development, review and implementation led by facility leadership and
designated accreditation teams. The accreditation process features a two- to three-day on-site audit at
each facility by a team of independent auditors from ACA who conduct a comprehensive inspection,
review files, and interview staff and inmates or probationers about facility conditions and operations.
Each facility’s ACA Audit Committee recommends re-accreditation to the ACA Commission on
Accreditation for Corrections which is solely responsible for rendering accreditation
decisions. Representatives from the Delaware Department of Correction and each facility’s ACA Audit
Committee then appear before the full Commission for the final accreditation vote. Accredited facilities
are required to earn re-accreditation every three years to maintain that designation and the reaccreditation
process features the same comprehensive on-site audit and vote by the full ACA Commission on
Accreditation for Corrections.

During the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center audit in November 2021 the facility was found to be
compliant with 100% of ACA’s mandatory standards and compliant with 99.5% of applicable nonmandatory standards. This is the highest score achieved by a Level 5 prison facility in Delaware to date. During its on-site audit in June 2022 Delaware Probation and Parole was found to be compliant
with 100% of ACA’s mandatory standards and 100% of applicable non-mandatory standards. Probation
and Parole has been found by the ACA to be 100% compliant with all mandatory standards and
applicable non-mandatory standards since its initial accreditation in 2016. In August 2022 during its
hearing and final vote on JTVCC accreditation and Probation and Parole re-accreditation ACA
Commission on Accreditation for Corrections members praised JTVCC and Probation and Parole for
maintaining high standards during the accreditation period and for all of their efforts during the COVID19 pandemic.

The first Delaware Level 5 prison facility secured ACA accreditation in 2016 and by 2019 all Level 5
prison facilities except James T. Vaughn Correctional Center had achieved accreditation. JTVCC, the
state’s largest correctional facility, succeeded in achieving ACA accreditation just five years after an
inmate uprising that resulted in the death of a Correctional Officer and serious injury to other Officers and
professional staff and after working diligently to prepare for a rigorous on-site audit during the significant
disruptions of the global COVID pandemic.

The awarding of ACA accreditation for JTVCC and reaccreditation to Delaware Probation and Parole
followed the awarding of ACA reaccreditation for seven additional DOC facilities earlier this year, in February 2022.

ACA is a private, non-profit, trade association and accrediting body for the corrections industry. The
organization was founded in 1870 and is one of the preeminent correctional organizations in the United
States. ACA accredits prisons, jails, community residential centers (halfway houses), probation
departments, correctional treatment communities, and various other corrections facilities in the U.S. and
internationally, using their independently published standards manuals. The standards created and refined
by the American Correctional Association represent fundamental correctional practices that ensure staff
and inmate safety and security; enhance staff morale; improve record maintenance and data management
capabilities; assist in protecting the agency against litigation; and improve the function of the facility or
agency at all levels.

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Department of Correction Marks National Accreditation Milestone In 2022

News | Date Posted: Tuesday, January 3, 2023



Dover, DE – As 2022 draws to a close the Delaware Department of Correction marks the success of its
decade-long effort to earn national accreditation across DOC facilities from the American Correctional
Association (ACA). This past summer at the ACA Summer Conference in New Orleans the Commission
on Accreditation for Corrections voted unanimously to grant ACA accreditation to James T. Vaughn
Correctional Center (JTVCC) and grant ACA reaccreditation to Delaware Probation and Parole. With
JTVCC’s initial accreditation, for the first time in its history all Delaware Department of
Correction Level 5 prison facilities have secured national accreditation.

“Ten years ago, the Delaware Department of Correction set an ambitious goal to achieve national
accreditation by the American Correctional Association and this year, despite the ongoing headwinds
from the COVID pandemic and national employment challenges, we reached a historic
milestone,” Department of Correction Commissioner Monroe B. Hudson Jr. said. “Earning and
maintaining ACA accreditation represents the gold standard of correctional practices and it requires
adoption of industry-leading policies and practices, a willingness to subject ourselves to rigorous outside
scrutiny, a commitment to maintaining transparency at all levels, and a track record of continuous
improvement to meet our dual mission of public safety and offender rehabilitation. I offer my sincere
thanks to all of our bureau leaders, wardens, regional managers, our entire DOC staff, healthcare
providers, and educational and treatment partners for working together to earn this national
recognition. ACA accreditation helps ensure that we are putting proven world class practices to work
here in Delaware and it puts us on a solid footing to achieve even more success in the decade to come.”

To secure ACA accreditation, correctional facilities first complete months to years of best practice
analysis and internal policy development, review and implementation led by facility leadership and
designated accreditation teams. The accreditation process features a two- to three-day on-site audit at
each facility by a team of independent auditors from ACA who conduct a comprehensive inspection,
review files, and interview staff and inmates or probationers about facility conditions and operations.
Each facility’s ACA Audit Committee recommends re-accreditation to the ACA Commission on
Accreditation for Corrections which is solely responsible for rendering accreditation
decisions. Representatives from the Delaware Department of Correction and each facility’s ACA Audit
Committee then appear before the full Commission for the final accreditation vote. Accredited facilities
are required to earn re-accreditation every three years to maintain that designation and the reaccreditation
process features the same comprehensive on-site audit and vote by the full ACA Commission on
Accreditation for Corrections.

During the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center audit in November 2021 the facility was found to be
compliant with 100% of ACA’s mandatory standards and compliant with 99.5% of applicable nonmandatory standards. This is the highest score achieved by a Level 5 prison facility in Delaware to date. During its on-site audit in June 2022 Delaware Probation and Parole was found to be compliant
with 100% of ACA’s mandatory standards and 100% of applicable non-mandatory standards. Probation
and Parole has been found by the ACA to be 100% compliant with all mandatory standards and
applicable non-mandatory standards since its initial accreditation in 2016. In August 2022 during its
hearing and final vote on JTVCC accreditation and Probation and Parole re-accreditation ACA
Commission on Accreditation for Corrections members praised JTVCC and Probation and Parole for
maintaining high standards during the accreditation period and for all of their efforts during the COVID19 pandemic.

The first Delaware Level 5 prison facility secured ACA accreditation in 2016 and by 2019 all Level 5
prison facilities except James T. Vaughn Correctional Center had achieved accreditation. JTVCC, the
state’s largest correctional facility, succeeded in achieving ACA accreditation just five years after an
inmate uprising that resulted in the death of a Correctional Officer and serious injury to other Officers and
professional staff and after working diligently to prepare for a rigorous on-site audit during the significant
disruptions of the global COVID pandemic.

The awarding of ACA accreditation for JTVCC and reaccreditation to Delaware Probation and Parole
followed the awarding of ACA reaccreditation for seven additional DOC facilities earlier this year, in February 2022.

ACA is a private, non-profit, trade association and accrediting body for the corrections industry. The
organization was founded in 1870 and is one of the preeminent correctional organizations in the United
States. ACA accredits prisons, jails, community residential centers (halfway houses), probation
departments, correctional treatment communities, and various other corrections facilities in the U.S. and
internationally, using their independently published standards manuals. The standards created and refined
by the American Correctional Association represent fundamental correctional practices that ensure staff
and inmate safety and security; enhance staff morale; improve record maintenance and data management
capabilities; assist in protecting the agency against litigation; and improve the function of the facility or
agency at all levels.

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.