Accomplishments

The Department of Corrections is proud of its achievements. Employees work hard to ensure customer service excellence, good management and quality accomplish¬ments. Highlighted are just some of the Department’s most notable achievements:

• Added an administrative wing in 2005, two new 96-bed housing units in 2001, updated technology, doubled the size of the medical unit, added a new processing center and offices for District Court commissioners, upgraded housing units, and opened a new dining room. Two additional housing units and a work release center are in the works.
• Was the first Maryland local jail facility to achieve certification from the American Correctional Association under its performance-based adult local detention facility health care program.
• Increased the number of mental health treatment personnel in recognition of the growing numbers of incarcerated requiring these services.
• Received its sixth three-year accreditation from the Maryland Commission on Correctional Standards in 2006 and has been accredited by the American Correctional Association since 1995. The Correctional Center is one of fewer than 100 jails nationally to have been awarded this distinction.
• Developed a separate, comprehensive program, Juveniles in Adult Correctional Settings, for youth ages 14-17 who have been waived to adult status by the courts. The Board of Education provides three specialized teachers for the program.
• Inmate graduates of the Department’s high school equivalency program regularly achieve high test scores on state examinations.
• Developed a Sisters-to-Sisters mentoring program and a Women’s Empowerment Program for female inmates and operate Leslie’s House, a transitional facility for women released from the Correctional Center.
• In partnership with Prince George’s Community College, adopted a program providing college credits for completing the Department’s entry-level correctional officer training program.
• The facility’s substance abuse programs receive high marks from the state during periodic certification audits.
• Created an Hispanic Committee to provide translations and service improvements for the growing Spanish-speaking inmate population.
• The Department’s barber styling training school is the only such accrediting school operating in a jail in the nation. After 14 years, it has provided 100 percent job placement and its recidivism rate is 15 percent. Subsequently added a nail technician and fundamentals of cosmetology program for female residents.
• Created an orientation video to better acquaint new inmates with the environment.
• Created a community service program for court-ordered offenders and added a work crew component for adults and for juveniles to assist government and nonprofit groups under the County Executive’s Livable Communities Initiative.
• Implemented a domestic violence program for inmates.
• Annually achieves compliance with the state mandate for staff in-service training.
• Held a first-ever programs symposium in 2006.
• Conducts an education program, COPES, focusing on drugs, peer pressure, and gang affiliation to sixth grade classes at county schools.
• Opened and staffed a Customer Service “help desk” in the Correctional Center reception area that operates during inmate visiting hours.
• Purchased and installed its first “art in public places” mural in June 2007.
• Honor Guard Team has placed first in regional competition for the past five years.
• Created a Critical Incident Stress Management program for staff.
• Created a Community Advisory Council to support the Correctional Center and involve the community in providing reentry services.
• Replaced older computers according to a strategic staging plan and increased the number of information technology employees.
• Created and expanded an aftercare program.
• Began to provide assessments for inmates in the early stage of incarceration to better prepare them for reentry.
• Planned and operate a duty day plan to help save money on overtime costs.
• Adopted a digital photo system for better processing of inmates and purchased new fingerprinting machinery.

Updated December 2007

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