FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Loudoun County, VA- The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office continues to enhance opportunities for inmates at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center (ADC) to help continue to reduce recidivism which has decreased 10% since 2012. These efforts include new technology and new and enhanced certification programs to assist inmates in gaining employment upon release.
Last week inmates began using the tablets through a secured intranet-based system that is fully controlled by the facility. The tablets will enable users to take educational courses, read e-books, make phone calls to family during designated hours, participate in remote video visitation, and submit requests and other services that help build self-reliance and self-esteem. Through the tablets, interested users will also be able to find more information regarding the availability of absentee ballots, general election information, and the requirements to vote absentee. Recently the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office worked with the Loudoun County Voter Registrar’s Office and the Loudoun Branch of the NAACP to enhance awareness of an inmate’s opportunity to register to vote and the availability of absentee voting at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.
The tablets are being provided at no cost to the Loudoun County ADC through GTL, a Northern Virginia Tech firm. All activity is monitored and inmates pay for the services, such as video chats and movies, through monies in their pre-paid accounts.
To further enhance opportunities that will enable inmates to successfully re-enter the community, the LCSO has added two additional certification programs that will provide a trade to assist them in gaining employment upon their release.
The ServSafe Food Handlers Certification is a two-day class that is taught by a certified ServSafe Manager. This class teaches inmates basic food safety knowledge and sanitation and allows them the certification needed to apply for employment in the food industry immediately upon their release.
The ATSSA / VDOT Approved Flaggers Certification Course teaches inmates standard flagger control references, proper flagging signals procedures, and standard flagger practices for various situations. This course is four hours of classroom instruction. This provides inmates opportunities within the construction industry upon their release.
The two certification programs will be taught inside the facility and will be implemented in the near future.
In April of 2019, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office also completed a project inside the Loudoun ADC that provides a computer lab and General Education Development (GED) testing center for use by the inmate population. The computer lab and GED testing center consists of six student workstations and one proctor workstation. This allows up to six inmates at a time to participate in classes or take GED examinations. The inmate computer lab is also utilized to teach classes such as resume writing and basic computer skills to help prepare inmates for return to employment upon their release. Inmates are able to utilize study materials and software installed on the workstations to prepare for the GED exam. Practice examinations are also be made available to inmates to help them prepare. Once an inmate is prepared to take the GED examination, the exam will be administered to them by a Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Deputy assigned to the Inmate Programs Section at the ADC.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office also partners with several groups that provide classes and education for the incarcerated population that are geared towards breaking the cycle of recidivism like Opportunities Alternatives and Resources (OAR). OAR teaches a variety of classes ranging from life skills, employability skills, fatherhood, and money smart. The goal of this programming is to help inmates break the cycle of recidivism and return to the community.
These classes, programs, and services, as well as many others that are provided for inmates incarcerated in the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center, are designed to encourage inmates to return to the community with the resources they need to stay out of jail.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office opened the state-of-the-art Adult Detention Center in 2007 with the phase II expansion opening in 2012. The agency has received 100% compliance from the Virginia Board of Corrections during its annual inspection since the opening of the facility twelve years ago. The Adult Detention Center includes administrative offices and the Loudoun County Magistrate’s Office within the same compound and uses both the direct supervision and the podular remote methods of inmate supervision.
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