Comparison of Correctional Standards Published by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commission on Accreditation of Corrections (CAC) Formerly Sponsored by the American Correctional Association (ACA)

• NCJ Number: 82479
• Author(s): F Tracy; D Macdonald; L Morgenbesser
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 54 pages
• Corporate Author: New York State Dept of Correctional Services
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Correctional standards issued by the American Correctional Association (ACA) are compared with those issued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the operations of the New York State Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) are examined with reference to these standards.

Abstract

The DOJ has indicated that the ACA and DOJ correctional standards are complementary and that whereas the ACA standards were developed to be the basis for a correctional facility's accreditation and certification, the Federal standards focus on issues of interest to the DOJ, particularly litigation, grants management, and prisoner detention. There are 21 categories of Federal standards and 29 categories of ACA standards. Five of the additional categories in the ACA standards are covered in abbreviated form under standards for administration and management. Only the planning and research categories are not covered at all in the DOJ standards. In this study, tables are provided that compare each of the 21 topic areas of the Federal standards to the corresponding topic area of the ACA standards. The review of DOCS operations in relationship to existing DOJ/ACA standards should not be taken as a substitute for a comprehensive assessment of DOCS compliance with these standards. What has been provided is a general sense of the areas where DOCS operations parallel standards and areas where it appears more information is needed to make a judgment on the conformity of DOCS procedures with standards.