The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world: Nearly 1 out of every 100 adults is in prison or jail, and 1 out of every 50 adults is on probation or parole.

The corrections field faces significant challenges. For one, the demographics of those incarcerated have changed in recent years. Today, the U.S. prison population is aging and includes both a greater proportion of women and more individuals with mental health conditions and disabilities.

As we enter the final year of this decade, these challenges should serve as a roadmap to identify opportunities to improve the field of corrections.

December is a time to reflect on the challenges of the past year and start preparing for the coming year. While there will always be new and unexpected challenges in the field of corrections, many of the issues previously experienced provide a hypothetical barometer of the issues corrections can expect to face in 2019.