ACA 2010 Winter Conference Preview, Jan. 22-27

ACA 2010 Winter Conference Preview, Jan. 22-27
 
TAMPA, Fla. — The ACA winter conference, one of the year’s largest events for correctional industry professionals, arrives in Tampa, Fla. on January 22. Be sure to visit the Correctional News booth and check out the
following highlighted events selected by the magazine’s editorial team.
 
Keynote Address

Patrick J. Buchanan, syndicated columnist and political commentator, General Session I: January 25th, 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.: Three-time presidential candidate Pat Buchanan opens the first general session with a keynote address on Monday morning. Buchanan is now a political analyst and commentator who served as director of communications on Ronald Reagan’s White House staff.

A journalist by profession, Buchanan writes a syndicated newspaper column, is a resident panelist on public television’s long-running political forum The McLaughlin Group, and has also co-hosted CNN’s Crossfire program.

In 1969, Buchanan was named special assistant to President Nixon, playing a prominent role as a political strategist and speechwriter throughout the remainder of the ill-fated Nixon administration.

Buchanan challenged incumbent President George H.W. Bush for the Republican nomination in 1992, and earned 3 million Republican primary votes to finish runner-up to the party’s 1996 nominee Sen. Bob Dole.

Seminars and Workshops

They Told us we Should do it Because it’s “Evidence-Based.” What does that Mean?; Session B-1C, January 24, 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.: Correctional administrators are asked to decide whether or not to implement new programs on a daily basis.

Advocates frequently tout evidence-based justifications for programs addressing issues from re-entry to safety and security to healthcare. However, many people on either side of the discussion and decision fail to really understand what evidence-based means. This workshop will make this complex subject clear and usable for decision-makers, giving them some tools to help them ask the right questions in order to better understand whether a specific program is as attractive as advertised.

Coordinator: Marc Stern, Correctional Healthcare Consultant, University of Washington, School of Public Health, Tumwater, Wash.

Designing Program-Intensive Special-Needs Prisons from the Ground up; Session B-1E, January 24, 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.: This workshop discusses the planning and unique program-intensive concepts deployed at the new 720-bed Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington, Wyo. The medium security facility specifically designed to serve as the primary intake and assessment center for male inmates not sentenced to death. It will serve as a primary education and treatment center for inmates identified as requiring high levels of protective custody, medical, mental health, dental, substance abuse, life skills, cognitive/behavioral, and/or sex offender treatment services. Wyoming Department of Corrections representatives and the project architect will discuss the partnership between special-needs programs and specially designed spaces, and the concrete benefits of progressive work, education and treatment programs in reducing recidivism.

Coordinator: Dave Boehm, principal at DLR Group, Phoenix. 

Cell Phone Detection Strategies; Session D-2F: January 26, 2:30 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.: This session will demonstrate effective cell phone detection techniques and practices including, cell phone sniffing dogs, disruption technology and the systematic revision and implementation of security measures and entrance procedures, including the use of BOSS chairs, to stem the flow of such devices. Panelists will also discuss the status of efforts to introduce legislation to change the possession of cell phones in correctional facilities from a misdemeanor to a felony offense.

Coordinator: Tomi Heirs, chief of staff at the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Baltimore.

The Sustainable Facility: Practical Applications of Sustainable Principles to New Detention and Correctional Facilities; Session E-1A, January 25, 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.:

This presentation will focus on the practical aspects of sustainability including definitions of LEED accreditation for professional, LEED certification of facilities, LEED rating systems. Panelists will use examples from recently completed facilities to discuss sustainable principals, strategies and measures as they apply to site selection, energy conservation, indoor air quality, recycling, materials selection and construction in corrections.  

Coordinator: Laurence Hartman, vice president, HDR Architecture Inc., Chicago.