Join ACA in Celebrating National Correctional Officers and Employees Week, May 2 – 8 Join ACA as we honor and celebrate our nation’s correctional staff members from Sunday, May 2 through Saturday, May 8, for National Correctional Officers and Employees Week. On the first Saturday in May 1984, then-President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation calling upon the country to pay tribute to corrections professionals. This proclamation created a week of commemoration of the work done by correctional officers — an honor many felt was long overdue. In 1996, Congress changed the name of National Correctional Officers Week to National Correctional Officers and Employees Week to rightfully credit all of the women and men who serve by working in corrections. This is truly a special week to celebrate and bring awareness to the importance and significance of our profession. National Correctional Officers and Employees Week is a fitting occasion to honor, specifically, the dedicated public servants in our nation’s correctional systems. 
courtesy Pennsylvania DOC 
Mark your calendars and check back on our website for updated information about the 151st Congress of Correction to be held in Nashville, Tennessee on August 12-15, 2021. In the upcoming days, visit ACA’s website at www.aca.org for the latest conference schedule, registration information and housing. Purchase your exhibit booth now! Contact Da’Shawn Burnette at dash...@aca.org or 703-224-0030 to reserve your spot today! See you there! Click here to register for the 151st Congress of Correction Condolences to friends and family of Correctional Staff lost to COVID-19 ACA’s leadership, staff and members extend sympathy and condolences to friends and family of all corrections officers and employees who have fallen ill or passed away due to the COVID 19 pandemic since the April 23rd issue of ACA Connect. Below are recent losses due to COVID-19. To see all who lost their lives, please visit ACA’s Wall of Honor and join us in mourning these professionals who put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities and those under their charge. Alexey Aguilar, Correctional Officer, Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (FL) With the heightened risk of attending work and being in close quarters with both staff and inmates, the bravery and necessity of our correctional workers has never been clearer. Correctional Agencies on the Front Lines of the Fight against COVID-19 In addition to performing their duties in extremely trying circumstances, correctional agencies around the country are stepping up to provide relief to medical workers and the public at large. Take a look at the great work done by correctional agencies since our April 23rd ACA Connect: [Pennsylvania] Gov. Wolf Recognizes Three Department of Corrections Employees for their Mitigation Actions Combatting COVID-19 [Nevada] After 14-month suspension, Department of Corrections announces phased return of visitation at prisons [New Jersey] Department of Corrections to resume visitations [Texas] Bexar County jail inmates begin receiving coronavirus vaccines [Utah] Vaccine offered to all inmates at Utah State Prison and Central Utah Correctional Facility [Washington] Corrections Resumes In Person Visitation Congratulations to Cheryl Strange for being chosen as Secretary for the Washington State Department of Corrections ACA congratulates Cheryl Strange for becoming the Secretary for the Washington State Department of Corrections. Gov. Jay Inslee did not go far to find a successor for retiring state prisons chief Steve Sinclair. Strange has led DSHS, the state's largest agency, since 2017. Before that, she served as CEO of Western State Hospital, the state's troubled psychiatric facility, which was stripped of $53 million a year in federal funding in 2018 after failing inspections. Strange has experience at DOC, having served as deputy secretary from 2008 to 2011. She will be the first woman in the DOC secretary post. Congratulations to Basden; Hodges and Jacobs for being named Wardens for facilities in North Carolina ACA congratulates Bruce Hodges, who has been named the new warden of the Tyrrell Prison Work Farm in Columbia. Hodges had been Prisons’ Program Development Coordinator and Project Manager in Raleigh since 2019. Edward Basden as the new warden at the New Hanover Correctional Center in Wilmington. Basden had been the associate warden of custody at the prison since 2017 and Stephen Jacobs new warden of Tabor Correctional Institution in Tabor City. Jacobs has been the warden at Lumberton Correctional Institution in Lumberton since 2020. Todd Ishee, Commissioner commended them on their promotions. Drew Stanley Named North Carolina Warden of the Year Drew Stanley, Warden at Nash Correctional Institution, has been named the warden of the year in North Carolina, for his extraordinary and proactive efforts to battle the pandemic. Before any offenders in the prison system tested positive for the virus, Stanley reviewed all programs at the prison and instituted COVID-19 preparations. He streamlined the way offenders were housed and grouped them to protect their health and to better ensure continuity of operations at two Correction Enterprises operations at the prison in the event of an outbreak. Corrections Today March/April issue available online The March/April issue of ACA’s flagship magazine, Corrections Today is online at www.aca.org. Don’t forget to tell friends and colleagues to join or renew membership with ACA to access to the bi-monthly Corrections Today, bi-weekly ACA Connect, and Corrections Daily news updates, along with many benefits offered to members through training, conference events and much more! FROM ACA HEADQUARTERS Send in your nominations for the E.R. Cass Award The time has come to send in your nominations for this year’s E.R. Cass Award. The E.R. Cass award honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of corrections throughout their careers and provided exemplary service to their agencies, states, and country. Click here to view the nomination form for the E.R. Cass Award. ACA held Part 2 of Louisiana Investigations Virtual Training ACA held part 2 of investigations virtual training for Louisiana on May 3-7, 2021. ACA held ACI training at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility ACA conducted the second phase of ACI training at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility on April 26-30, 2021. ACA Welcomes New Staff at Alexandria Headquarters ACA is pleased to introduce to you ACA’s Senior Accreditation Specialist, Dehavilland Whitaker, MS. She has worked for the State of Maryland for thirty years; with twenty-four years in Maryland’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS). During her tenure with DPSCS, she served through the ranks of Correctional Officer, Training Coordinator, Duly Authorized Auditor, Security Chief, and Facility Administrator. ACA’s Office of Correctional Health (OCH) welcomed a new Correctional Health Specialist, Rachel Todhunter, this week. Rachel has work experience at the West Central Regional Juvenile Center in Minnesota and an educational background in psychology and medical sciences. ACA to conduct training in Tennessee on Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Program ACA will be conducting training on Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Program on May 10-12, 2021. Office of Correctional Health Opioid Use Disorder Staff Trainings OCH also offers staff training for all agency staff on implementing medication for opioid use disorder programs. The curriculum covers all aspects of program implementation and oversight from a medical, behavioral health, security, and administrative perspective. ACA to conduct 2nd virtual training for Auditor candidates from Mexico for International Correctional Core Standards (ICCS) ACA will be conducting the second virtual training of auditor candidates from Mexico on ICCS on May 17-21, 2021. ACA Commission on Accreditation for Corrections to hold virtual panel hearings in May and June The Commission on Accreditation for Corrections will host virtual panel hearings May 25 and June 3, 15, & 29, 2021. There will be virtual panels in July (dates to be determined) and on-site panel hearings in Nashville. You will be contacted in advance to schedule panel hearings. ACA Expected Practices Portal The proposed revisions to the ACA expected practices are now available for public comment. Comments can be submitted on the ACA website standards committee standards portal until May 21, 2021. For questions, please contact the Director Standards and Accreditation Department, at dav...@aca.org. Online COVID-19 Resources and Information Center ACA’s homepage now includes a link to ACA’s “Coronavirus Resources”. ACA staff have compiled and shared guidelines, emergency response plans and information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP), and state/local agencies. Keep checking this resource page for the most up-to-date and corrections-specific information on mitigating and combatting the COVID-19 crisis. Request to be a member of ACA Committees Anyone interested in serving on a committee for ACA, send an email to pres...@aca.org. Corrections Today Article Submissions ACA is always looking for good articles for Corrections Today magazine. If you are interested in submitting an article for consideration, please check out the publications area of our website or send an email to submi...@aca.org. Stay up to date with ACA’s Professional Development and Certification Programs E-LEARNING: Does Your Staff Need Training Hours??? – Check out ACA’s e-learning catalog for course offerings. Whether it is new hire training, annual in-service and critical issues training ACA can be your training partner. We can customize your training to fit your agencies requirements via ACA’s World- Class E-Learning Training Program. We offer courses that address security/inmate management, legal issues, mental health, supervision/management, juvenile corrections, and much more. Quality training starts at ACA and gives staff an opportunity to develop skills and boost career opportunities. We offer a state-of-the-art training platform, a media-rich learning experience and new courses; all cost- effective. Contact us at elea...@aca.org to find out how we can assist you. CERTIFICATION: ACA’s certification program is designed to promote professional development and lifelong learning to the professionals in the corrections field. The program ensures the awareness of the most current, innovative, and effective approaches in corrections. The program is designed to advance the overall knowledge level of practitioners in the field and promotes the capabilities of corrections professionals to the public by demonstrating their adherence to the ACA Code of Ethics. STAY CERTIFIED: – You have earned this honor. It is time to get RECERTIFIED. If you were certified in 2018, contact us at acap...@aca.org to find out how you can recertify! Visit the Professional Development webpage for more information here. ACA Connect News Item Submissions If you have internal news to share with your fellow ACA Members, please send it along to ind...@aca.org to be included in the next issue of ACA Connect. PARTNERS AND AFFILIATES Attention ACA Chapter Presidents: Please send updated officer contact information to Helena Windsor, Membership & Chapter Relations Manager at hel...@aca.org CALENDAR Correctional Leaders Association- 2021 Southern Directors Conference May 13 – May 16, 2021 Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa Miramar Beach, Florida | 
