Established as an agency in 1946, DOC combined the first-built District Jail (1872) with the Lorton Correctional Complex, which began as a workhouse for male prisons in 1910, but later expanded to include eight prisons on 3,000 acres of land in Lorton, Virginia.  With the passage of the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, the Department of Corrections transferred the sentenced felon population formerly housed at the Lorton Correctional Complex to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and discontinued operations there on December 31, 2001.

 

DOC currently operates a large municipal jail system with an average daily population of approximately 1,284 inmates.  Those in the custody of DOC include 94% males and 6% females with two primary correctional facilities--- the Central Detention Facility also known as the D.C. Jail and the Correctional Treatment Facility.  In addition, DOC contracts with a privately-operated halfway house for the community placement of female residents.

In January of 2023, both the D.C. Jail and Correctional Treatment Facility were reaccredited by the American Correctional Association’s (ACA) Commission on Accreditation for Corrections. The ACA serves all disciplines within the corrections profession and establishes national standards for the safe and effective operation of state, county, federal and private facilities (jails and prisons).   
 
To ensure compliance with established standards, the ACA conducts facility audits every three years which cover the physical plant along with supporting functions including administration and management, institutional operations and services, and inmate programs.  Other areas assessed include staff training, medical services, sanitation, segregation and detention, incidents of violence, crowding, and offender activity levels. Nationally, only 12% of jail facilities successfully meet standards set by the ACA for accreditation/reaccreditation.   The link provided offers information on the ACA accreditation process. 

Standards Information - ACA Standards

In June of 2021, DOC achieved national reaccreditation of its medical and mental health service delivery system by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCHHC).  DOC was found to be 100% compliant with both the essential and important standards which are those set by NCCHC to evaluate all facets of health care programming.  NCCHC accreditation is widely recognized as the gold standard for jail health care programs. The link below provides information on the NCCHC health care accreditation process.  

Accreditation - National Commission on Correctional Health Care (ncchc.org)

 

Public Information Officer 
DC Department of Corrections
3924 Minnesota Ave, NE, 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20019
(202) 671-2135