Custodial Training Helps Illinois Jail Avoid Coronavirus Contamination

While jails across the country struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic, a jail in the suburbs of Chicago has managed to remain COVID-19-free, thanks in part to ISSA’s Cleaning Management Institute (CMI).

The DuPage County Jail in Wheaton, Illinois, has been working with CMI to present a customized cleaning certification course to its inmates for more than two years. The training program was updated last year in response to the coronavirus pandemic to include enhanced sanitization procedures.

“It was almost like a blessing by God to have it intact, so we could turn sanitation teams directly into contagion control teams,” said DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick in an interview with WFLD-TV in Chicago.

Over the course of six weeks, inmates at DuPage County jail received training on specialized cleaning procedures and participated in hands-on demonstrations. At the successful conclusion of the workshop, they are presented with CMI certification, helping them to keep the jail clean during their sentence and assisting them with securing gainful employment upon their release as well.

“Now is the time, more than ever that our world needs CMI Certified Custodial Technicians,” said Brant Insero, ISSA Director of Education, Training, Certification, and Standards. “These individuals are leaving the prison with a mission and sense of purpose because they are literally responsible for saving lives. The cleaning industry is forever changed because of COVID-19 and these CMI Certified Custodial Technicians have the opportunity of a lifetime ahead of them. “

For more information on CMI and its customized training programs, visit issa.com/cmi.