Adirondack Correctional Facility

Adirondack Correctional Facility - or Adirondack Adolescent Offender Facility - is a medium security level facility for adolescent males that is located in Ray Brook, New York. It is operated by the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Adirondack Correctional Facility transitioned to an adolescent offender facility in fall 2018 in light of Raise the Age laws, which raised the age of criminal responsibility to 18 in New York for nonviolent offenders. However, in January 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed turning it back into an adult facility.

This facility can house approximately 700 inmates.

The Adirondack Correctional Facility opened around 1904 as the Ray Brook Sanatorium, the first state-operated tuberculosis sanitorium in New York, and continued until the mid-1960s. It re-opened as the Ray Brook Rehabilitation center in 1971, but that facility closed within five years.

It was succeeded by a camp program for adult inmates, "Camp Adirondack." Inmates known as “campmen” worked with the Department of Environmental Conservation and were employed in logging, sawmill, wildlife preservation, construction of campsites, snowmobile and cross-country ski trails, and construction of a toboggan run at the Mount Pisgah ski area. The camp also constructed the Ice Palace each winter for the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival.

When the 1980 Winter Olympics took place in nearby Lake Placid, the inmates worked on the Olympic trails at Mount Van Hoevenburg and the camp facilities were used for Olympic staff housing. This led to the renovation of the water treatment plant, the sewage system, as well as the housing and food service areas.

During the Olympics, the inmates were relocated to other prison facilities in the state, and were replaced by State Police and U.S. Customs Bureau personnel, National Guard and security forces of foreign governments who provided security for the Games. An area of 200 acres of the facility was used as the site for the Olympic Village; after the games it became a new federal prison, the Federal Correctional Institution, Ray Brook.

In 1981, Camp Adirondack was designated a medium-security facility and renamed the Adirondack Correctional Facility.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Visiting hours at Adirondack Correctional Facility are from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm on weekends and holidays. The latest time you can arrive for a visit is 2:00 pm.

Maximum Number of Visitors per Visit/Day: Four/Unlimited. In special circumstances, with prior approval, more than four visitors may be allowed to visit at one time.

Visiting Room Overcrowding Policy: In the event that space considerations require termination of visits, the following procedure will be followed:

1) Request voluntary termination from any visitor first.

2) If no volunteers, visitors who arrived first will be asked to leave.

Visitor Checklist

The following is a checklist to ensure you are prepared for the visit:

• Confirm that the offender has not been transferred and has visitation privileges.
• Bring valid photo identification.
• If you have made special arrangements with the facility, call before leaving to ensure that plans for your visit have been made and are in place.
• Check clothing and jewelry for compliance with visiting regulations.
• If you are bringing a child and you are not the legal guardian or parent, be sure you have a notarized statement from the child’s parent or legal guardian.

• Before leaving home, check your vehicle for contraband and/or hazardous items and be sure to remove these items before entering correctional facility grounds. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • implements of escape
  • drug paraphernalia
  • intoxicants
  • poisons
  • items posing a danger to others
  • weapons, such as knives, scissors, or firearms
  • items used to show a gang affiliation
• Arrive on the designated day during proper visiting hours.
• Leave purses, wallets, and electronic devices in the glove compartment or in the trunk of your car. Be sure to lock your car!
• Do not leave minor children waiting in the car or your visit will be ended.
• Do not have any contraband on you when you enter the facility.
• Treat correctional staff with respect.
• Do not bring anything into the visiting room to give to the offender. Offenders are not permitted to take anything from the visiting area.

Dress Code

The following clothing is prohibited:

• See-through (sheer) clothing, bare midriffs or backs
• Plunging necklines, short shorts or athletic shorts, low tops or backless tops or dresses.
• Shorts or skirts shorter than mid-thigh are not allowed.
• Bathing suits
• Attire displaying obscene/offensive, derogatory language or drawings, or promoting illegal activity.
• If in doubt, you should not wear questionable items of clothing. Under no circumstances will visitors be allowed into the facility dressed inappropriately.
• Please be advised, bras that set off the metal detector will have to be removed and/or the individual will be searched by an officer. (See policy regarding searches)
• Hair pins may also cause metal detectors to go off. In this instance, you will be asked to remove them in order to have your visit. 
• Be aware that some head wraps may have to be removed in order for you to pass through the metal detector successfully.
• Jewelry may make the detector go off. You should remove anything questionable and carry it with you into the processing area and put it back on later.
• Zippers, metal studs, and decorations can set the detector off. If this happens, you may be asked to go into the bathroom, take off the clothing, put on alternative articles of clothing provided by the Department and kept there for those purposes. You will go through the detector again until you make it through successfully. It is best to wear simple clothing so that you can become accustomed to the procedures at the correctional facility.

How to Call an Inmate

How to Send Money

Programs For Inmates

DOCCS offers an extensive array of programs and services for incarcerated individuals to assist them in redirecting their lives and becoming productive, law-abiding members of society.

Programs include guidance and counseling services, library and law library services, religious services, educational and vocational training, alcohol and substance abuse treatment, family development, and many others.

Adult Basic Education

The Adult Basic Education Program provides individualized instruction. This is provided to meet the needs of incarcerated individuals who have reading and math scores below the sixth grade level on the Department's selected standardized test in reading, mathematics, and language arts in the context of real life adult problems and situations.

The goal of this program is to provide individuals with skills or competencies necessary to function successfully in contemporary society and to enable the participant to function at the sixth grade reading and mathematics level.

Individuals with reading and/or math levels below six grade as measured by the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) standardized achievement test are eligible to attend this program. Participants are to be retested using the appropriate level of the Test of Adult Basic Education three times per year.

Aggression Replacement Training (ART)

A cognitive behavioral intervention program designed to assist individuals in improving social skills, moral reasoning, coping with and reducing aggressive behavior through the use of self-regulating exercises and mindfulness.

ART consists of three coordinated interventions: anger control training, structured learning, and moral reasoning. The program consists of five modules with 32 sessions.

Participants will learn to understand what causes them to feel angry and act aggressively, as well as techniques to reduce anger/aggressive behavior, self-regulate to stop "automatic" aggression, and to build skills that help make better choices.

Individuals who are assessed as having the need for ART are assigned to the program by the facility Program Committee.

Program participants are required to satisfactorily complete weekly assignments. Participants must also share their experiences with the group identifying how they utilized acquired ART skills. Each participant is required to actively and appropriately participate in group discussions and be willing to assist other participants. Participants may be videotaped to provide visual feedback as part of the learning process.

North County Community College Associate's Degree

On-site college level credit-bearing courses for incarcerated individuals who possess a verified high school equivalency or high school diploma.

The goal of college programs is to enable incarcerated individuals to continue education beyond high school and work toward earning a college certificate or degree. Admission requirements and assessment vary depending on the on-campus policies of the school. A high school diploma or HSE is required.

Barbering

The Barbering course covers the basic services provided by the barber trade. The student studies hair cutting, shaving, massaging, facials, scalp treatments, and styling.

The goal of the Barbering course is to train students in the barbering trade and prepare them to take the Barber license exam. 

The course is self-paced individualized instruction to develop student competencies in entry level skills as defined by modules. Instructions in the required hours are needed to apply to take the New York State Barber license exam.

Building Maintenance

The Building Maintenance program provides students with fundamental skills required to make minor repairs in carpentry, masonry, electricity, plumbing and weatherization. This course prepares the student with entry-level skills as a building superintendent.

This program is self-paced individualized instruction to assist students in developing competencies in entry level skills as defined by modules.

Community Lifestyles

The Community Lifestyles Program is an open ended residential therapeutic program providing a structured dormitory program that supports the essential correctional goals of order and safety.

Program goals include:

• establishing housing unit teams of Correction Officers and Offender Rehabilitation Coordinators assigned to the housing unit.
• facility wide interdisciplinary team approach that assists behavioral monitoring and change.
• improving communication and collaboration among staff.

There is daily progress evaluation of both individual and community participation, as well as participation in all applicable programs and activities.

Computer Information Technology Support

Students in the Computer Information Technology Support Program learn computer software including word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and presentations. The goal of this program is to provide the student with entry level skills as a Computer User Support Specialist.

This is self-paced individualized instruction to develop student competencies in entry level skills as defined by modules. IC3 Digital Literacy Certification from Certiport; Microsoft Office Specialist Certification in Excel, PowerPoint, and word processing from Certiport; and Help Desk Certification from Computer Visions, Inc. are available.

Job titles include:

• Computer User Support Specialist
• Customer Service Representative
• Desktop Publisher
• Help Desk Representative
• Salvage Laborer

Working conditions include mainly working on a computer terminal and some lifting of light to heavy objects.

Custodial Maintenance

The Custodial Maintenance Course emphasizes custodial services, including floor care, carpet and fabric care, upholstery care, window care, restroom care, and the safe use and operation of power cleaning equipment and sanitation chemicals.

The goal of this course is to provide students with competencies in entry level skills in commercial, institutional and industrial cleaning and maintenance. This is self-paced individualized instruction to develop student competencies in entry level skills as defined by modules.

Basic and Advanced Custodial Technician certifications, NCCER core training program certification, and New York State Department of Labor Apprenticeship program are also available.

Job titles include:

• Carpet/Upholstery Cleaner
• Cleaner, Commercial/Institutional
• Cleaner, Industrial
• Cleaner, Sweeper/Industrial
• Cleaner, Wall
• Custodian
• Floor Waxer
• Inventory Clerk
• Tool Crib Attendant
• Window Cleaner

Horticulture

Horticulture refers to the production, care, management and marketing of plants such as flowers, shrubs, trees, bulbs and turf. Training includes instruction and practice in techniques and methods of plant propagation, transplanting, pruning, cultivation, fertilization and greenhouse production, as well as plant identification and insect control.

Students learn basic landscape design through the use of brick, stone and wood in the construction of walks, walls and fences as well as the construction of new lawns, mowing, fertilization and insect and disease control. Instruction is given in operating various horticulture hand and power equipment, such as mowers, tractors, rototillers, and other garden tools.

The goal of the Horticulture course is to provide a student with entry level skills to be employable as Horticulturist or Groundskeeper. It offers self-paced individualized instruction to develop student competencies in entry level skills as defined by modules.

A New York State Department of Labor Apprenticeship Program and NCCER Certification Training Program are available.

• Floral Designer
• Gardener Worker
• Golf Course Laborer
• Greenhouse Laborer
• Greenhouse Worker
• Groundskeeper (Industrial-Commercial)
• Horticulture Specialist Grower (Field)
• Horticulture Specialist Grower (Inside)
• Horticulture Worker
• Inventory Clerk
• Landscape Gardener
• Landscape Laborer
• Nursery Worker (Laborer) 
• Plant Care Worker
• Plant Propagator
• Segmental Paver
• Tool Crib Attendant

There are no admission requirements.

Special Education

The Special Education Program provides intensive one-on-one and small group instruction to students under 21 years of age identified as having a disability. Instruction may be provided in a self-contained Special Education class, resource room or through the consultant teacher model.

The goal of this program is to tailor learning activities to the diagnosed needs of students with a disability to enable them to achieve learning objectives and, where appropriate, to successfully participate in the regular academic program.

Because of its supplemental nature, the Special Education Program utilizes the curriculum provided in the student's regular academic program, Special Education Profile, and Individualized Education Program (IEP) developed by the Committee on Special Education (CSE).

To participate, students must have a disability and be 21 years old or under. Psychoeducational and academic assessments are conducted. 

Waste Management

The Waste Management Program provides recycling and organic waste diversion and avoided cost services for the Department and selected municipalities. The program employs up to 1100 incarcerated individuals at various levels in facilities and regional recycling processing centers. 

Food Waste composting operations are located throughout the state and generally outside facility security perimeters.

Program goals include providing:

• solid waste disposal cost avoidance to the Department through procurement, recycling and organic waste composting strategies
• statutory compliance with solid waste regulations and benign environmental stewardship waste management practices
• relevant and productive inmate work experiences

Pictures of Adirondack Correctional Facility

Careers at Adirondack Correctional Facility

If you are interested in a career with the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and would like to work at the Adirondack Correctional Facility, you can find out more information by clicking here.