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National Correctional ADA Symposium
ADA Behind Bars
Legal Obligations, Operational Solutions, and Risk Management
Hosted by the Horry County Sheriff’s Office at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center
Conway, South Carolina 29526
The Americans with Disabilities Act affects nearly every area of jail operations, including intake, classification, housing, discipline, medical and behavioral-health care, medication-assisted treatment, restrictive housing, use of force, communication access, grievances, emergency planning, release planning, and vendor oversight. ADA Behind Bars is an intensive 2.5-day symposium designed to help correctional professionals understand those obligations and translate them into practical, defensible operational systems.
Event Details
- Monday, October 26: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, October 27: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
- Wednesday, October 28: 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
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Location:
Horry County Sheriff’s Office: J. Reuben Long Detention Center
4150 J. Reuben Long Ave.
Conway, South Carolina 29526 - Instructional format: 2.5-day, in-person symposium
- Enrollment: Limited to the first 50 attendees
Registration Includes
- Admission to all symposium sessions
- Lunch on October 26 and October 27
- Electronic training materials provided before the conference
- Certificate of completion
- Faculty question-and-answer sessions
Tuition
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$495Early-bird registration
Available through August 31, 2026 -
$595Regular registration
Beginning September 1, 2026 -
$425 per attendeeAgency rate
Available when three or more attendees from the same agency register
Agency-rate registrations should be submitted together or clearly identify the participating agency.
What Participants Will Learn
- How ADA Title II applies to jails and detention facilities
- How disability-related needs should be identified during intake and classification
- How to distinguish disability-driven conduct from intentional noncompliance
- How to evaluate requests for reasonable modifications
- How the ADA affects discipline, restrictive housing, suicide prevention, and use of force
- How to address medication-assisted treatment and opioid use disorder
- How to improve communication access for inmates with sensory disabilities
- How ADA Coordinator responsibilities, grievance procedures, and staff training fit together
- How healthcare-vendor practices affect agency exposure
- How to prioritize corrective action and strengthen institutional compliance
Curriculum Overview
Monday, October 26 | 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
- ADA Title II in correctional settings
- Intake, screening, and the first 24 hours
- Classification systems and disability-related decision-making
- Physical access and mobility disabilities
- Intellectual and developmental disabilities and traumatic brain injury
- Mental illness, psychiatric disabilities, and the ADA
- Faculty question-and-answer session
Tuesday, October 27 | 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
- Restrictive housing, solitary confinement, and use of force
- Suicide prevention and crisis response
- Disciplinary systems and the ADA
- Medication-assisted treatment and opioid use disorder
- Emergency planning, release planning, and reentry
- Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and visually impaired inmates
- Faculty question-and-answer session
Wednesday, October 28 | 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
- DOJ investigations, private litigation, and the enforcement landscape
- Individual Accommodation Plans and the interactive process
- ADA Coordinator authority and grievance procedures
- Healthcare vendor management
- Corrective action and building a compliant system
Who Should Attend
This symposium is designed for professionals who manage, advise, insure, defend, evaluate, or oversee correctional operations, including:
- Sheriffs, jail administrators, detention-center directors, and command staff
- Correctional supervisors, intake personnel, and classification personnel
- ADA coordinators and compliance professionals
- Medical, mental-health, and behavioral-health professionals
- Agency counsel, county attorneys, and civil-rights attorneys
- Risk managers and insurance pool representatives
- Claims professionals, litigation managers, and loss-control personnel
- Internal affairs, professional standards, training, and policy personnel
- Healthcare-vendor managers and government officials responsible for detention operations
Why Risk Managers and Insurance Pool Representatives Should Attend
Correctional ADA failures can create overlapping exposure under Title II of the ADA, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, constitutional standards, civil-rights statutes, and contractual obligations. This program will help risk and insurance professionals better understand:
- The operational practices that generate recurring disability-related claims
- The relationship between ADA issues and use-of-force incidents
- The risks created by intake, classification, discipline, and restrictive housing decisions
- The exposure associated with healthcare and behavioral-health vendors
- The role of training, supervision, policy, and documentation in claim defensibility
- How corrective action can reduce litigation and long-term loss exposure
Selected Faculty
Additional faculty assignments will be announced as they are confirmed.
Lunch and Electronic Materials
Lunch will be provided on Monday, October 26, and Tuesday, October 27. All training materials will be distributed electronically before the conference. Attendees should provide an accurate email address during registration and bring a laptop or tablet if they wish to access the materials during the program.
Facility and Security Information
This training will be conducted at an operational detention facility. All participants must comply with the security procedures established by the Horry County Sheriff’s Office and the J. Reuben Long Detention Center. Registered attendees will receive arrival, parking, identification, prohibited-item, and facility-entry instructions before the event.
Accessibility
Shield Public Safety Training is committed to providing an accessible training environment. Participants requesting an accommodation should identify the requested accommodation during registration or contact Shield Public Safety Training sufficiently in advance of the symposium.
Reserve Your Place Early
Enrollment is limited to the first 50 attendees. Registration will close when capacity is reached, so agencies and individual attendees are encouraged to secure their places as early as possible.
Faculty assignments and program sequencing are subject to change. Questions may be directed to staff@shieldpst.org.