Albion Correctional Facility

Albion Correctional Facility is a medium security facility for female inmates that is located in Albion, New York. It is operated by the New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and can house approximately 1,250 inmates.

One of the most famous inmates to serve time at Albion Correctional Facility was Amy Fisher — aka The Long Island Lolita — who did three-and-a-half years at Albion for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuco before being transfered to the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women.

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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.

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.

Medaille College Associate's in Liberal Studies/Alcohol and Substance Abuse Certificate Program

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.

Comprehensive Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment (CASAT)

Legislatively mandated substance abuse treatment developed to ensure that substance use disordered individuals receive the maximum benefit from a substance abuse treatment experience during their preparation for transition back to the community.

Incarcerated individuals approved for Presumptive Work Release are provided CASAT in three phases.

• Phase I - an intensive, six month minimum, prison-based residential substance abuse treatment that employs the Therapeutic Community model.
• Phase II - Community Reintegration (outpatient treatment).
• Phase III - Aftercare (community transition and ongoing treatment for participants released to Community Supervision).

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.

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.

Cosmetology

The Cosmetology course covers the care of hair, skin and nails, and provides instruction in the skills of hair shaping, coloring, thermal curling, straightening and styling of hair.

The goal of this course is to provide students with entry level skills as a hairdresser, beautician or manicurist, and to prepare them to take the Cosmetology licensing exam. This is self-paced, individualized instruction to develop student competencies in entry level skills as defined by modules.

Instruction in the required hours is needed to apply for the New York State Cosmetology licensing exam.

Culinary Arts

Students are instructed in baking bread and pastry, preparing all types of foods, kitchen sanitation, and the proper procedures and techniques used in serving food.

The goals of this course are to provide students with entry level skills in the food trades.

Individuals interested in this program should possess a high school diploma or equivalency (HSE), or be enrolled in a HSE or a pre-HSE class, or on a required program list for the HSE or pre-HSE program. This is self-paced individualized instruction to develop student competencies in entry level skills as defined by modules.

NYS Department of Labor Apprenticeship Program is available. ServSafe certification program for safe food handling recognized by the National Restaurant Association is available.

Driving While Intoxicated Treatment

Intensive, structured substance abuse treatment designed to meet the unique needs of offenders with DWI-related convictions. 

Participants receive a minimum of six months alcohol-specific treatment employing the Therapeutic Community model or elements thereof. Upon completion, participants may apply for the Temporary Release DWI Transition Program.

Engraved Sign

The laminated sign engraver is required to produce neat and precise work utilizing an engraving machine. Clerical duties are highlighted, which include detailed record keeping, filing, processing purchase orders, and establishing job priorities.

Participants are provided an opportunity to acquire job skills and acceptable work habits by working in a production oriented environment operating equipment and meeting production schedules and quality standards. Efficiency and quality are stressed in all shops. A high school diploma or equivalency is required to participate.

Job titles include Engraving Machine Operator and Pantograph Engraver.

Family Reunion Program

The Family Reunion Program (FRP) provides approved incarcerated individuals and their families the opportunity to meet for a designated period of time in a private home-like setting.

The goals of the program include:

• Preserving and strengthening family ties that have been disrupted as a result of incarceration.
• Fostering positive and responsible conduct.
• Facilitating post-release reintegration into the family and community, thereby reducing the likelihood of recidivism.

Incarcerated individuals must meet preconditions to be eligible to participate in the FRP.

General Business

The General Business course provides students with instruction on using computers, calculators, and printers. Students become familiar with software applications, including word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations, and desktop publishing. In addition, instruction is offered in filing, mailing procedures, bookkeeping, and business correspondence.

The goal of the course is to prepare students to work in a business office. It provides self-paced, individualized instruction to develop student competencies in entry level skills as defined by modules.

IC3 Digital Literacy Certification from Certiport and Microsoft Office Specialist Certifications in Excel, PowerPoint, and word processing from Certiport are available.

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.

Living Safely Without Violence

Living Safely and Without Violence is an intervention designed for females involved in the criminal justice system who have specifically been charged with violence crimes and/or who have a history of aggressive behavior, including self-harm or violence towards others.

Emphasis is placed on exploring how and why individuals use violence, and how they can live safely without it. Participants are introduced to an integrated and multi-sensory approach, which focuses on emotional regulation, interpersonal competencies, and mindfulness practices.

The program's goals are to assist these women in learning to respond in a healthy, non-violent manner to adverse life events by examining the relationship between emotions and violence, building self-change along with developing maintenance strategies and utilizing adaptive strategies and social resources to life safely and without violence.

To be eligible for this program, participants must have been assessed with an aggression need and they must have successfully completed the Moving On program prior to placement in this program.

Metal Shop

Participants in the Metal Shop learn various aspects of metal products manufacturing, including sign, dust pans, table frames, fireplace grills, trash baskets, steel shelving, sign blanks, and other related metal components. Metal finishing and processing is taught, as well as the fabrication of components for other Industries Shops.

Participants are provided an opportunity to acquire job skills and acceptable work habits by working in a production oriented environment, operating equipment, and meeting production schedules and quality standards. Efficiency and quality are stressed in all shops.

Sex Offender Counseling and Treatment Program

The Sex Offender Counseling and Treatment Program (SOCTP) is a comprehensive program of counseling and treatment offered by the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for convicted sex offenders and other offenders the Department identifies as likely to benefit from sex offender counseling and treatment based upon a study of their background.

The SOCTP is offered to those who have been identified as low, moderate/high, and high risk to reoffend. Offenders are assigned a risk level for treatment using a comprehensive process that utilizes both actuarial tools and clinical assessment.

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. 

Title One

Title I is a federally funded remedial education program for incarcerated individuals ages 21 and under that provides instruction in basic education skills to supplement their regular ABE, HSE, or Occupational Training program.

The Title I Vocational and Career Counseling Program provides individual and/or small group exploration into the world of work. Interest and skill assessments are conducted to help develop career and vocational plans for the post-release period. Transition plans are developed enhancing awareness about preparing for reentry and positive participation upon return to the community.

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

Women’s Initiative

The Women’s Initiative seeks to assist incarcerated women with their unique needs regarding rehabilitation and re-entry into their communities. Workshops include “Who am I,” “Self-esteem & Self-worth,” “Boundaries & Relationships," and “Grief & Forgiveness.”  

The focus of these workshops is to discover where one comes from and look at how the physical environment, socio-cultural influences, and spirituality help define them as a person. The program seeks to help participants understand how their thoughts influence how they see themselves and, in turn, how that affects the decisions they make.

The program also helps them define boundaries and why they are important in their personal, family, and professional life. Healthy relationships versus abusive, controlling relationships are examined along with each person’s personal rights. It gives the women the opportunity to identify their losses and define forgiveness as a choice that allows them to move forward in life unburdened by guilt and shame.

Youth Assistance Program

The Youth Assistance Program is specifically designed to provide positive guidance and direction to at-risk youth in the surrounding community from becoming involved in illegal activities or committing crimes which may lead to the criminal justice system.

The program includes presentations by selected facilitators who are incarcerated. They discuss the circumstances and behaviors that led to their incarceration and the consequences of life in prison. Youth Assistance Programs are supervised by designated facility staff and held in an area of the facility as directed by the Superintendent.

Pictures of Albion Correctional Facility

Careers at Albion 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 Albion Correctional Facility, you can find out more information by clicking here.