Recently, the Westchester County Department of Correction (WDOC) underwent an extensive three-day reaccreditation audit conducted by the American Correctional Association (ACA). By receiving 100% compliance of the 59 mandatory standards and 99.67% of the 303 nonmandatory standards, the County Jail was re-accredited for the fifth time since it first received ACA accreditation status in 2009. In 2009, the County Jail became the first large jail in New York state to do so.
County Executive George Latimer said: “ACA, NCCHC and PREA certifications are not just ‘feathers in the cap’ for the county; they establish that our Department of Correction operates under the most stringent custodial and medical standards for jail facilities nationwide. I commend Commissioner Spano, his leadership team and the entire WDOC workforce for the effort they put forward to run a jail that can serve as a model for the rest of the nation and once again attain ACA re-accreditation….”
WDOC maintains the unique distinction of being the only large local jail in New York state to be dually accredited by the American Correctional Association and National Commission on Correctional Healthcare (NCCHC), and is also the only New York County Jail that has achieved Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) compliance, meeting and exceeding US Department of Justice federal standards.
During the January 24 exit interview, the ACA auditors complimented the WDOC workforce, highlighting the level of professionalism and operational knowledge they exhibited during the inspection process. Additionally, they were very impressed with the department’s health-care services, mental health treatment, food service operations, rehabilitation programming and overall safety and sanitation procedures.
