Department of Corrections
Northpoint Training Center Receives Perfect Score on Re-Accreditation Audit

Northpoint Training Center (NTC) received a perfect score during its re-accreditation audit with the American Correctional Association (ACA). The 100 percent score is the highest the institution has ever received.

“It is obvious teamwork functions very well here,” said Richard Faulkner, the head of the audit team. “You have earned the score of 100 percent and you have earned our respect as both auditors and fellow corrections professionals.”

Faulkner, a retired supervisor of the U.S. Department of Justice in Virginia, noted that the institution was extremely clean for a facility of its age, adding that he was particularly impressed with the response of one inmate he interviewed during the audit who wanted to know “how are we doing?” referring to both staff and inmates.  This shows that both staff and inmates care about the facility, he said. In all of his years in auditing, he said, he had never had an inmate ask this question.

Commissioner LaDonna Thompson also congratulated the NTC employees. “I’m very proud of the staff at Northpoint Training Center,” said Thompson. “This score speaks volumes about their level of commitment to the job. To receive a perfect score requires a continuous day-to-day effort by all staff members. It is not something that you can just throw together at the last minute. This achievement is another example of the pride the staff have in working at NTC.”

Steve Haney, Warden at NTC, said the perfect score reflects the dedication of both staff and inmates and could not have been accomplished without their efforts.  He said he was very proud of his staff to be able to score a 100, considering the events of the last two years.

ACA consists of over 500 national standards that cover security, operational and programming aspects of a prison and require constant monitoring and quality control checks. Each prison is audited by ACA every three years and has an inter-departmental audit (Program Security Review) every year.  Kentucky has been a member of ACA since the early 1980s.