As reported by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, jails in the United States share the responsibility of providing custody and support for over 600,000 adults, a group that has seen a 21% increase in the total jail population and a 78% increase in adults over the age of 65. Jails throughout the country are also faced with managing inmates that have increasingly complex health and human service issues.
In response, the National Institute of Corrections facilitated a focus group in August 2026 that helped identify the training gaps and/or opportunities affecting the professional growth and development of jail staff as they work on improving the reentry outcomes of men and women returning home. In addition, NIC began the process for providing state training hours for selected NIC training events (electives).
Convened at the Central Bureau of Prisons Office in Washington, DC, the focus group included jail and training executives from the following counties and/or Sheriff’s Offices located in Maryland and Virginia:
- Alexandria, VA (David W. Nye, Director - Training & Logistics Section, Latanya Ervin, Director - Policy and Compliance Section & Julio Ocasio, Director - In-Service Training Unit Sergeant)
- Anne Arundel County, MD (Christopher Klein, CCE – Superintendent, Department of Detention Facilities & Sherris Mundell, MBA, Training Director - Department of Detention Facilities)
- Arlington, VA (LaShawn Fisher, LPC, Pretrial Director/ Classification Manager)
- Baltimore, MD (Violet Jackson, Director of Correctional Training - Maryland Department of Public Safety & Correctional Services)
- Carroll County, MD (Charles Lt. Dustin Hendricks, Training Commander)
- Fairfax, VA (Captain Derrick Ledford FCSO, Training Branch Chief - Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy & First Lieutenant Anthony Shobe, Training Branch Commander - Fairfax County Criminal Justice Academy)
- Montgomery County, MD (Bejamin Stevenson, M.Ed., MDE, Director - Department of Correction and Rehabilitation & Bryan Rouzee, Training Manager - Department of Correction and Rehabilitation)
The dynamic and interactive exchange of ideas at the event addressed:
- In-service training
- Training must-haves and/or challenges
- Criminal justice trends
- Software/technology limitations
- Professional certifications
- State hour requirements
- Succession planning/coaching
- Virtual versus instructor-led training
Moving forward, the group will rank order the training topics that were identified at the event and select 2-3 courses to serve as electives to help jail staff meet their state training hour requirements.
