Corrections_Today_July_August_2020_Vol.82_No.4

From Jim’s Desk nEWS & vIEWS

A Missed Birthday

B y now, nearly everyone is has been canceled. When all was said and done, we made the decision to cancel on the side of personal safety of ACA attendees. I would hope you agree, with no vaccine currently available, and no readily available effective treatment for infected per- sons, to gather in close quarters with hundreds and hundreds of people is risky business at best. The ACA President and I concurrently reached that decision, to which the ACA Board of Governors unanimously concurred. Our next Winter Conference in Long Beach, California, is scheduled for the beginning weeks in February 2021. We hope and pray that by then there will be effective treatments and a vaccine. If all goes well, we will attempt to have a celebrational event in Long Beach. Since we were founded in Cincin- nati, Ohio, we will make an effort to return there in the future if we can work details and dates out. In aware that the 150 th Anniver- sary Congress of Correction

committed to return to Ohio’s Capi- tol city, Columbus, in a future year. At the time this piece was written (June 2020), we are still in the “first wave” of the COVID-19 virus, and many states are spiking in infections, and seeing record numbers of new cases. Please observe precautions that experts are urging you to do. Please continue to show patience and con- tinue to hold hope that better days are ahead. Lastly, please remember the cou- rageous women and men who have given their lives in service to this profession. Sadly, ACA’s Wall of Honor grows nearly every week. Remember them as the NATIONAL HEROES they are. Remember and pray for their families and fellow workers. May God bless them in a just reward.

downtown Cincinnati, not far from the convention center, there is an Ohio State historical marker telling about ACA’s founding. It is coin- cidental that our current president, Gary Mohr, is a native Ohioan, and I know he and many, many persons in Ohio were looking forward to hosting ACA. The Ohio chapter of ACA (Ohio Correctional and Court Services Association — OCCSA) has been, and still is, one of the larg- est and most active state associations in the nation. We will miss being in Cincinnati, but we have already

James A. Gondles Jr., CAE ACA Executive Director

Photo courtesy Pam Boeing-Rogers, Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau

8 — July/August 2020 Corrections Today