Agency News

NIC Announces Solicitation for Broadcast/DVD Production

2009-10-30T22:42:00Z

The National Institute of Corrections released a solicitation to fund production of four satellite/internet broadcasts and three DVDs. The full solicitation is attached to this blog and will soon be posted to www.grants.gov. The service will be provided through a cooperative agreement, and applications are due December 1, 2009. Link here to learn more about cooperative agreements with NIC.

Download the Solicitation

NIC Seeks Developers for "Systems Approach" Workforce Performance Training

2009-10-30T20:29:00Z

The National Institute of Corrections Prisons Division has released a solicitation to develop a curriculum to train upper-level management of individual state correctional and prison systems. Through a 12-month cooperative agreement, the developers would produce a field-tested curriculum to better prepare agency management to use collaborative, systemic, performance-based approaches to address current challenges. The complete solicitation is attached to this blog and will be posted soon on www.grants.gov. Applications are due November 30, 2009, and a web-conference for potential bidders is scheduled for November 5 to discuss the project. Send your e-mail by noon, November 3, 2009 to mdooley@bop.gov to register for the web-conference. Link here for more information regarding cooperative agreements with NIC.

Download the Solicitation

Apply Now for Administering the Small and Medium-Sized Jail Training

2009-09-24T21:12:00Z

The National Institute of Corrections if offering Administering the Small and Medium-Sized Jail as a co-sponsored training with the Kansas Jail Association. It will be held November 16-20, 2009 at the Kansas Highway Patrol Training Center in Salina, Kansas. The training will cover administrative responsibilities, such as:

Action planning.
Using jail standards.
Managing risk.
Developing and assessing policies and procedures.
Determining staffing needs.
Managing the workforce.
Managing inmate behavior.
Developing a fire, safety, and sanitation plan.
Managing the budget.
Administrator’s role outside the jail.
Assessing jail operations.

The application deadline has been extented to October 30, 2009. This program is open to jail administrators or an agency team composed of the agency chief executive officer (such as the sheriff) and the jail administrator or the jail administrator and assistant jail administrator from small and medium sized jails. Read more and complete an online application.

Six States Selected for NIC's 'Transition from Prison to Community' Initiative

2009-09-17T17:40:00Z

The National Institute of Corrections has selected Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming to participate in the next phase of the Transition from Prison to Community (TPC) Initiative. The TPC Model is a comprehensive systems approach to successfully return inmates to communities. NIC's project partners (The Center for Effective Public Policy and the Urban Institute) will provide technical assistance to these states during the next three years as they implement the TPC model. These six states follow eight other states that participated in the first round of the TPC initiative. Link here to learn more about the experiences in those eight states.

Inmate Behavior Management: The Key to a Safe and Secure Jail

2009-09-02T17:35:00Z

The National Institute of Corrections has published Inmate Behavior Management: The Key to a Safe and Secure Jail by Virginia Hutchinson, Kristin Keller, and Thomas Reid, Ph.D. The six elements of the inmate behavior management plan are:

Assessing Risk and Needs
Assigning Inmates to Housing
Meeting Inmates' Basic Needs
Defining and Conveying Expectations for Inmate Behavior
Supervising Inmates
Keeping Inmates Productively Occupied

A 42-hour training program on Inmate Behavior Management will also be offered by the Jails Division at the National Corrections Academy in Aurora, Colorado. If you are interested in developing a formal plan to better manage inmate behavior in your jail read more about this program and the application process.

National Directory of Programs for Women Offenders Now Online

2009-08-06T20:41:00Z

The National Institute of Corrections, in partnership with the Women's Prison Association, has developed an online directory of programs for women offenders. This nationwide resource provides profiles of programs and services for women at all stages of criminal justice involvement, both in correctional facilities and in the community. Link here to view the National Directory of Programs for Women with Criminal Justice Involvement. Click on the "Contact" tab on any page of the Directory for a form to recommend additional program listings.

Learn more about NIC's services and resources dealing with women offenders on the Project page.

2010 NIC Service Plan "Technical Assistance, Information, and Training for Adult Corrections" Now Available

2009-07-29T17:08:00Z

The 2010 NIC Service Plan "Technical Assistance, Information, and Training for Adult Corrections" is now available as a digital download. The National Institute of Correction's Service Plan for fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009 - September 30, 2010) contains opportunities available to those working in local, state, and federal corrections. To download the 2010 NIC Service Plan, go to: http://nicic.org/Library/023761

Corrections and Swine Flu

2009-04-30T20:05:00Z

With growing concern and risks associated with the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza, the National Institute of Corrections has launched a webpage to track information and resources of particular interest to corrections practitioners and administrators. The information is available at Corrections and Swine Flu. NIC will monitor developments and resources daily and add links on this page to information to assist the field.

Online EBP Training Now Available for First-Line Corrections Supervisors

2008-12-05T20:59:00Z

For agencies committed to evidence-based service delivery, first-line supervisors are key players. They guide and support a changing role for line staff to impact the behavior of offenders in both institutional and community settings. An award-winning, two-hour training program - Evidence-Based Practices for Supervisors - is now available at the online NIC Learning Center. The program highlights EBP principles, as well as the planning, implementation, and monitoring of EBP for supervisors. It is one of more than 150 interactive, self-paced programs available for corrections supervisors and managers. If you are not already enrolled in the Learn Center, click here for eligibility and enrollment information.

The NIC FY2009 Service Plan is Now Available!

2008-09-02T19:05:00Z

The National Institute of Corrections has posted its Fiscal Year 2009 Service Plan. It's titled Technical Assistance, Information, and Training for Adult Corrections: All Corrections Disciplines, Jails, Prisons, and Community Corrections. You can view it online and see the numerous opportunities available for federal, state, and local agencies and practitioners. Updates to the training programs, satellite/Internet broadcasts, and technical assistance services will be announced throughout the year at www.nicic.gov.

Learn online! "Your Role: Responding to Sexual Abuse"

2008-07-30T16:16:00Z

The National Institute of Corrections has just released a new online training program that provides a comprehensive overview of the Federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). This 2-hour program is designed to increase your awareness of the dynamics of sexual abuse in corrections and teach you how to respond to allegations of sexual abuse.

All staff working in correctional settings are encouraged to take this free interactive course. It's content has special relevance to the institutional environments and addresses issues that have serious legal and public safety issues for staff at all levels.

Registration and Program Details

Does OJJDP Offer Training and Technical Assistance? Yes they do!

2008-03-27T16:22:00Z

Did you know that the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) also offers training and technical assistance?

Check out this link to the OJJDP National Training and Technical Assistance Center and see what they have to offer!

http://www.nttac.org

NIC Receives E-Learning Award

2008-03-25T16:14:00Z

The National Institute of Corrections received first place honors for its web-based program Evidence-Based Practices for Supervisors. The award, received March 18, 2008 at the annual Learn.com client services conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, was for Best Course Design using CourseMaker Studio.

In announcing the winner, Don Cook (Learn.com's Vice President of Marketing) indicated that "hands down" and "by far" NIC's course surpassed other entries in this category for quality of instructional design. He pointed to the innovative use of an animated e-agent (avatar) to serve as a mentor for the learner throughout the course and the inclusion of quality demonstration vignettes as significant contributions enhancing the learning experience.

The NIC team responsible for the design and development of this course included Steve Swisher, Carla Smalls, and Michael Guevara. Robert Cherkos and Renee Bergeron served as contractual subject matter experts on the project. Learn more about NIC's Self Study Training.

What is the National Institute of Corrections?

2008-02-19T21:44:00Z

Introduction

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is the only federal agency with a legislative mandate (Public Law 93-41 5) to provide specialized services to corrections from a national perspective. NIC is recognized by other Federal agencies for its unique role and quality services. Its leadership is evidenced by the numerous partnerships and interagency agreements targeted to provide correctional services and training.

NIC is unique because it provides direct service rather than financial assistance as the primary means of carrying out its mission. It responds directly to needs identified by practitioners working in State and local adult corrections, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice, other Federal agencies, and the United States Congress. NIC staff provides leadership to influence correctional policies, practices, and operations nationwide in areas of emerging interest and concern to correctional executives and practitioners, as well as public policymakers.

NIC provides practical assistance in planning and implementing improvements at the Federal, State and local levels. These efforts contribute to cost efficiency and effectiveness in such areas as planning, design, and operation of new jails, prisons, and community corrections programs, offender workforce development programs, and offender classification and risk assessment.

NIC is highly acclaimed by the corrections community as a focused, customer-oriented, apolitical, efficient, highly professional agency that continues to make a significant difference. It is credited with raising the standard of performance for corrections agencies nationwide.

Mission

"We are a center of correctional learning and experience. We advance and shape effective correctional practice and public policy that respond to the needs of corrections through collaboration and leadership and by providing assistance, information, education, and training."

History

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Institute is led by a Director appointed by the U.S. Attorney General.

In September 1971, a major riot at New York's Attica prison focused national attention on corrections and the practice of imprisonment in the United States. In response to public concern and recognizing the problems in corrections facilities and programs at the State and local levels, Attorney General John N. Mitchell convened a National Conference on Corrections in Williamsburg, Virginia, in December 1971. Recommendations of this conference resulted in the National Institute of Corrections in 1974 and received funding in 1977 as a line item in the Federal Bureau of Prisons budget.

NIC Constituents

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the correctional workforce for all government agencies was 748,250 in 2003. To remain responsive to the field NIC continuously monitors the needs of correctional practitioners. This is done through various formal and informal strategies. Among these are online needs assessments, surveys, environmental scans, plus general and topical hearings. Monitoring NIC's online forums, the proceedings from network meetings, and feedback through training and technical assistance evaluations is another source of assessment information.

Service Approaches for Meeting the Mission

Most staff at NIC are former directors of departments of corrections, wardens, deputy wardens, jail administrators, and probation chiefs, which equates to a wealth of corrections experience and knowledge under the umbrella of one agency. NIC serves its customers by:

Providing technical assistance to State and local corrections to address their specific needs;
Awarding cooperative agreements that result in partnerships between NIC and the awardee;
Providing critical training otherwise unavailable to corrections practitioners at all organizational levels;
Providing networks for sharing information and solutions through jails, prisons, and community corrections;
Providing the only national corrections-specific information clearinghouse that is able to quickly survey the field for urgent answers;
Developing partnerships that are cost effective and lead to increased level of service;
Providing research and evaluation guidance and data collection.

Technical Assistance

Technical assistance is provided in response to requests from sheriffs, jail administrators, directors of State correctional departments, judges, chiefs of probation and parole, and county administrators among others. On-site, technical assistance uses experts from the field and NIC staff. It often results in the identification of gaps in policy and practice, the development of strategic plans with emphasis on organizational and system-wide alignment, and includes working with all involved stakeholders. Assistance is designed uniquely for requesting jurisdictions and can be fulfilled within 3-5 days, or within hours for emergencies.

NIC has provided technical assistance and worked collaboratively with many State and the BOP on female offender issues including those related to programming, operations, and mental health and addressing the requirements of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). Additionally, NIC has provided assistance to the U.S Probation and Pretrial Services with its implementation of evidence-based policy and practice, and to State and local jurisdictions.

Cooperative Agreements

Cooperative agreements produce targeted products, programs, and services for requesting jurisdictions. Cooperative agreements allow NIC staff to work directly with the requesting agency which allows us to be involved with the problems we are helping solve on a daily basis. These often have utility well beyond a single agency.

Training

Training is a primary vehicle through which NIC delivers its products, programs, and services to the field of corrections. NIC is known for quality leadership training for prisons, probation, parole and jail leadership. For more information including number of training participants, please refer to the addendum "State of the Bureau, Fiscal Year 2007."

Networks

NIC is the only agency that regularly convenes leaders from similar correctional functions for the purpose of shared learning and information exchange. The primary objective of networking is to make opportunities available for informed discussion among members by providing places, time and staff support for meetings. The target audience for networks includes correctional executives from the State, local and Federal levels.

Over 4,000 correctional professionals have joined NIC's online communities to share information on topics such as pre-trial services, cognitive behaviors change, mental health services, working effectively with women offenders, managing offender behavior, jail and prison administration and reentry. All of these resources are available to BOP.

Information Clearinghouse

The National Institute of Correction's library contains 21,500 cataloged documents, 250 serials journals, professional publications, etc.), and online e-books and databases. The library is a repository for NIC publications and resource for NIC projects and training, as well as research for correctional practitioners who contact the Information Center staff.

Information Center staff are available to help correctional personnel identify appropriate resources related to their topics of inquiry (e.g. how to manage jail overcrowding, how to validate a risk and need assessment instrument), and to link them to other resources.

The Information Center also generates annual publications dealing with topical issues of interest to the field of corrections. The NIC Information Center is now co-located with the Federal Bureau of Prison's Management and Specialty Training Center, providing more potential to support BOP training and services. Approximately 10,000 individual requests for research assistance and correctional resources are processed by the Center each year.

Partnerships

NIC engages in partnerships and interagency agreements with national organizations and Federal agencies to share expertise, avoid duplication and provide expanded services in a cost effective manner. One example has been a long-standing interagency agreement with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). For several years NIC training specialists have developed and provided training for juvenile practitioners in areas such as, but not limited to, leadership and management, building training capacity, and selected topical areas such as aftercare services and restorative justice.

Research and Evaluation

NIC collects meaningful data and indicators and use formalized assessment tools at the organizational, staff and offender levels. NIC has developed tools to help in the complex implementation of evidence based principles (e.g., implementation checklist, quality assurance manual, core papers on the risk reduction research aimed at various stakeholders, intermediate measures guidebook, outcomes measures matrix, etc.)

A critical role for NIC is to translate research for the field. The most current research is applied to actual situations in corrections. NIC also works with interested academics and researchers to understand corrections issues, enabling them to conduct research that is utilitarian and useful for the field.

Organizational Structure

The National Institute of Corrections is led by Director Morris Thigpen, Deputy Director Tom Beauclair, and a 16-member Advisory Board.

NIC is organized so that each primary constituent group in adult corrections-jails, prisons, and community corrections-is represented and served by a distinct division. These include: the Academy Division, the Community Corrections Division, the Prisons Division, the Jails Division, the Offender Workforce Development Division, the Research and Evaluation Division, and the Information Center.

The Academy Division coordinates most of the Institute's training activities for practitioners working in State and local adult corrections throughout the U.S. and its commonwealths and territories. It also provides training for juvenile justice, the Federal prison system, and military corrections practitioners through interagency agreements. Training programs are offered in the areas of correctional leadership, jail management, prison management, offender management, and training for trainers.

The Prisons Division provides specialized training and coordinates technical assistance, and other programs related to prisons. The Division also sponsors the development of publications and materials on topics of interest to prison practitioners, and it coordinates an interdisciplinary effort to assist jurisdictions in developing a more rational, cost-effective, and coordinated system of criminal justice sanctions and punishments. It provides the only national training for new wardens, directors of corrections, and deputy directors in the country. In addition, the Division has been instrumental in providing assessment and validation of classification systems in prisons throughout the country.

The Community Corrections Division coordinates consulting services (technical assistance), specialized training, and other programs related to probation, parole, and other forms of community-based corrections. The Division also sponsors the development of publications and materials on topics of interest to community corrections practitioners, and it coordinates an interdisciplinary effort to assist jurisdictions in developing a more rational, cost-effective, and coordinated system of criminal justice sanctions and punishments.

It has been called upon to assist in complex corrections system change in Maine. The work started with statewide strategic planning, policy work with State, executive, judicial and legislative branches, and community corrections. By the end of the initiative, Maine has begun to produce Research Briefs from the resulting data bases and answer critical research and policy questions for upper level policy makers.

The Jails Division offers training and technical assistance to requesting agencies and develops resources to assist jails in the areas of jail administration, jail standards and inspections, and jail mental health services. Program staff are former jail practitioners who have hands-on experience with jail issues in large, medium, and small agency settings.

Among programs that the Jails Division provides, are the National Sheriffs Institute for newly elected sheriffs and the Large Jail Network comprised of administrators of jails comprised of population exceeding 1000 inmates. In addition, the Jails Division trains jail staff throughout the country on "Inmate Behavior Management" since many jails perform poorly in this area, as evidenced by the violence and vandalism common in many jails. The division also provides assistance to jurisdictions in planning new jails through training, documents, and technical assistance.

The Offender Workforce Development Division was created through The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 as a vehicle to encourage, support, and advance job training and job placement programs that provide services to offenders and ex-offenders. The division operates under a congressional mandate as defined in P.L. 103-322, Section 2041 8. The legislative mandate requires that the Division coordinate with the Department of Labor, Department of Justice, and other Federal agencies, provide training to develop staff competencies, provide technical assistance, and collect and disseminate information about offender job training and placement programs, accomplishments, and results.

During 2007, the Offender Workforce Development Division in partnership with BOP and U.S Probation and Pretrial Services, provided training to 500 correctional professionals including 175 BOP staff on workforce development issues. Additionally, staff from the division were invited to participate in the White House Faith-Based and Community Initiatives National Summit on Prisoner Reentry in Los Angeles, California.

The Research and Evaluation Division serves NIC in two primary ways. Through selected projects it assists the field in designing and implementing research and evaluation strategies. It serves to build a bridge between relevant research and the day-to-day operations for corrections agencies.

Second, it is building a general model of evaluation strategies that can be applied to NIC's own projects, initiatives, training and technical assistance offerings. Combined with information from various needs assessment strategies, the findings from both these external and internal efforts guide NIC's decision making about how best to serve the field. Resources can be targeted and dispersed quickly and efficiently to the agencies and areas where they will have the greatest impact.

The Information Center assists correctional policy makers, practitioners, elected officials, and others interested in corrections issues. Corrections Specialists who have professional experience in corrections provide expert research assistance and have access to a full library. The Specialists assist with locating and, in many cases, obtaining copies of information at no charge to the requestor.

Legislative Mandates

Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

PREA was signed into law in September of 2003. Under Section 5 of the law, NIC immediately began providing assistance to the field. NIC has provided 30 training events, 137 technical assistance events, 9 video offerings, numerous publications, and launched a web-site and clearinghouse housed within the NIC Information Center.

Children of Incarcerated Parents

In December of 2000, Congress appropriated 4 million dollars to NIC "to work with cooperative agreements to fund private sector or not for profit groups that have effective, tested programs to help children of prisoners". The work emanating from the initiative continues to inform NIC's work with the correctional field.

Miscellaneous Activities

A Memorandum Of Understanding (between BJA , OJJDP, OJP, NIC, CMHS, CSAT and SAMSHA) was established to "provide a framework for the Federal agencies to plan, coordinate, and share the design and implementation of interagency efforts to improve the response to people with substance abuse disorders, mental health disorders, or co-occurring disorders who are involved or at risk of involvement with the criminal and juvenile justice system." To carry out this work, NIC engaged in a multi-year cooperative agreement with the Council of State Governments.

Conclusion

NIC is a small agency with a very limited budget yet is able to provide services which result in a significant impact to Federal, State, and local corrections agencies. It embodies the best practices of both the public and private sectors by providing fast (within hours if necessary), high-quality, non-bureaucratic, customer-oriented service. Because of the wealth of experience and knowledge of NIC's staff, the activities and responsibilities should not be easily transferred to another agency.

Addendum

State of the Bureau, Fiscal Year 2007
National Institute of Corrections

During Fiscal Year 2007 NIC conducted 25 leadership training programs (training 166 BOP staff and 578 State/local staff). These programs included:

Executive Excellence,
Correctional Leadership Development,
Management Development for Women and Minorities,
Deputy Directors,
State Correctional Leadership for Women
Correctional Leadership for Women,
Management Development for the Future,
Executive Training for New Wardens, and
National Sheriffs Institute for first term sheriffs.

In addition, NIC trained 186 additional leaders through the:

Orientation for New Parole and Probation Chief Executives,
Urban Chiefs,
Statewide Community Corrections Administrators,
Orientation for New Parole Board Members,
Programs Directors (Pre-Trial), and
Large Jail Network for those responsible for the operation of large jail systems.

Viewers for remote broadcasts - there were 4 satellite/Internet broadcasts conducted in FY2007 consisting of a total of 1,424 sites and 14,312 participants.

NIC developed the following 6 custom e-Learning:

Jail Data Collection
Using Assessment Instruments to Assist Offender with Career Planning
Using Computer Systems and Web Sites to Assist Offenders with Educational
Career Planning
Strategies to Lessen Barriers for Offenders Entering the Workforce
Establishing the Learning Organization
Your Role Responding to Sexual Abuse ( PREA)

Additional information regarding e-Learning and NIC's Learning Center:

There were 4,623 course completions in FY07
The NIC Learning Center currently houses 165 Web based training (WBT) courses for users to take. They are broken down into the following categories.

147 course titles on leadership/management topics (COTS, curriculum of the shelf) leased from Skillsoft Corporation
13 course titles on specialized correctional topics. These are part of the custom courseware development NIC has developed specifically for correctional practitioners. These courses are available to all users in the NIC Learning Center.
5 course titles from the Offender Workforce Development training series that have been custom built by NIC and are currently only available to individuals participating in the training program series.

No. of State/local cooperative agreements - 54
No. of responses to technical assistance requests - 265
No. of NICIC responses to requests - 7,298 new requests
No. of unique visits to website - 499,225 visits
There have been 204,059 downloads from NIC's online catalog

Initiatives started w/ brief description & status update:

Women Offender Case Management Model - an evidence based management system following women as they move through the system. This model is being designed for improved offender outcomes.
Assessment/Classification Tools - research and development of two genders-specific tools for assessment~classification of women offenders.
Family Justice - the development and piloting of a relational tool to support building of networks for male/female offenders re-entering communities.
Transition from Jail to the Community ( TJC) Project - NIC and the Urban Institute launched an initiative to develop strategies for jails and local communities to work collaboratively to transition people from jail to the community for the purpose of improving long-term reintegration outcomes. A model will be tested and evaluated in a total of six jurisdictions, to be determined. This will involve bringing jail and community leaders including human service providers, faith based groups, and criminal justice decision makers and practitioners, elected officials and other interested parties together to jointly develop policies and procedures affecting custody, release, and supervision. The TJC model is viewed as a new way of doing business, involving long-term systems change and a collaborative, community-based orientation.
BOP/NIC Joint Development of Inmate Skills Development System Training DVD - BOP'S Inmate Skills Development Branch is collaborating with NIC's
Offender Workforce Development Division to produce an interactive training DVD on the Inmate Skills Development Initiative and the use of the Inmate Skills Development System. This DVD will be available for Federal, State, and local Departments of Corrections. The Inmate Skills Development initiative provides a renewed emphasis and viewing of inmate management focused on preparing inmates for successful reentry. The ISDS provides a model for the cross disciplinary dynamic assessment of an inmate's skills, tracking and coordination of resources to address needs identified.
NIC has recently completed the conversion of Offender Workforce Development Specialist classroom training modules to e-learning modules that will be offered through NIC's e-Learning Center. This training will be coordinated between NIC's Academy; Offender Workforce Development Division and BOP and Federal Probation for trainees in a continuing effort to provide more cost efficient competency based training that leads to trainee certification as Career Development Facilitators. This will reduce significantly the number of days for classroom training, thereby providing the potential for many more trainees to participate in this professional . training series.
NIC continues to support BOP and the U.S. Courts (Federal Probation and Pre-Trial Services) by requiring teams from State and local jurisdictions accepted into the training for Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS) nationally to have representation from BOP and U.S. Courts. This provides opportunities for Federal, State and local jurisdictions to begin working jointly in jurisdictions to meet the employment needs of offenders that are under supervision in the community or transitioning to the community and workforce from confinement facilities. This facilitates shared ownership and shared resources between agencies in jurisdictions in keeping with the coordination, collaboration and partnering necessary for the successful transitioning of offenders to the community and workforce.