Released: May 5, 2024
Delaware County Council recognized May 5-11 as National Correctional Employees Week during the May 1 public Council Meeting.
Established by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 as a way to thank correctional officers for their service and celebrate their contributions to society, the week serves as an opportunity to honor correctional officers in jails, prisons, and community correctional facilities nationwide. In 1996, Congress expanded the week to include all correctional professionals and employees to provide recognition to the many people who are responsible for care, custody, and control.
On behalf of County Council, Council Member Kevin Madden presented a resolution to Warden Williams and members of her team recognizing National Correctional Employees Week and commending the correctional officers who serve at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility.
“Under the leadership of Warden Williams, these skilled law-enforcement professionals work outside the daily attention of the general public, but their work is vital in maintaining a safe correctional facility for those in our custody and in ensuring the public safety at large,” said Madden, who also serves as the Co-Chair of the Jail Oversight Board. “They rise to meet the daily challenges unique to a corrections facility and serve in this honorable profession with dignity.”
The County’s correctional officers and employees serve admirably in various capacities, including as jail administrators, nurses, mental health professionals, supervisors, social workers, case managers, educators, chaplains, directors, dietary workers, commissary workers, and program coordinators. Under the leadership of Prison Warden Williams, they are responsible for the custody, care, and rehabilitation of thousands of correctional facility residents every year, as well as the maintenance of a safe and secure facility.
“This week provides us an additional opportunity to recognize our employees. The professionals within George W. Hill Correctional Facility are some of the most resilient and resourceful individuals who maintain commitment to fulfilling their duties even when infrastructures fail, population needs change, or resources remain limited, said Warden Williams. “Our staff positively influences the public safety and public health needs of the County of Delaware and we are proud to acknowledge their efforts.”
The George W. Hill Correctional Facility recently celebrated the two-year anniversary since the County’s April 2022 deprivatization of what had been the only privately managed county prison in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The transition of control from the private management firm to full County operational control and management was the result of a multi-year process of study and planning. Under County leadership and direction, the prison is now placing an emphasis on reducing recidivism and providing incarcerated people with stabilizing tools that will better prepare them to successfully transition back into the community.