Norval Morris Project: 2009 Topic Introduction
"Invitation to the Friends and others to join a Topic Team"
This invitation is to request your participation in one of the two Topic Teams now being organized as part of the National Institute of Corrections' Norval Morris Project. As many of you know, this project is a unique effort being carried out by the NIC through cooperative agreements with Justice System Assessment & Training (J-SAT). The project is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Norval Morris who was instrumental in founding NIC and remained a guiding influence as a charter member of the NIC Advisory Board. Dr. Morris believed a major shortcoming in correctional policy and practice was that the field did not make effective use of research, and among his keenest interests was the issue of effective dissemination of research findings to inform the field.
The project functions through a structure that brings together people both inside and outside the field of corrections to develop interdisciplinary approaches and draw on professional networks that cut across academic, private sector, and public sector boundaries. The first formal meeting of the Project, by a steering committee we have named the "Keystone Group", took place in September 2008 with 19 thought leaders-half of them corrections practitioners-plus NIC senior staff and J-SAT project staff.
The Keystone Group explored many topics of interest to corrections and formulated two broad questions for further development; one focusing on reducing correctional populations responsibly and a second on transforming correctional leadership and the workforce. The next step of the process, which begins now with this invitation, is to assemble Topic Teams to function as standalone working groups to continue to develop, refine, and expand upon these two questions. The topic areas are intentionally designed to be far-reaching in their change implications, representing, in the broadest sense, the knowledge strategies that will drive future innovations in the field. The two topic teams are being organized around the two questions detailed below.
Reducing the Corrections Population
The first topic that emerged from the Keystone Group as a focus for future work was posed in the question, "How can we safely and systematically reduce the correctional population by half in 8 years?" The last complete count of correctional populations reported that over 7.2 million persons across the United States were under supervised parole or probation or were incarcerated in prisons or jails. Most were on probation (4.2 million), while almost 800,000 were under parole supervision. Over 760,000 were in jail on an average day, and close to 1.5 million were in prison. These numbers are expected to continue growing.
Estimates of the national cost of corrections routinely exceed $50 billion a year at a time when governments at all levels are under tremendous financial strain. Many state and local governments are facing significant shortfalls in the current fiscal year despite having already made substantial cuts in spending. There is every reason to believe that these challenges will also grow and expand in the coming months.
At the same time, reported crime rates have continued to decline almost uninterruptedly for the last thirteen years. In September 2008, the FBI released Uniform Crime Reports data showed that the violent crime rate in the United States had fallen to 466.9 crimes per 100,000 in the U.S. population-the lowest rate since 1974. Property crime rates have retreated to the level of the late 1960s. The clear implication is that correctional strategies designed to combat rising crime rates have become disconnected from their original purpose. We are faced with a "corrections bubble" created by continued growth generated by the criminal justice system itself. The inescapable conclusion is that, one way or another, corrections is going to experience a contraction. If corrections professionals choose, they can lead the effort rather than have it forced upon them.
Cutting the correctional population in half, would return it to where it was in 1988. The year marked the end of an eight-year period of rapid growth during which the correctional population doubled from 1.8 million in 1980 to 3.6 million. It also marked the first time the correctional population had reached such levels. If it is possible for the correctional population to double in 8 years, in theory it ought to be feasible also for it to shrink by half in 8 years.
Transforming the Corrections Workforce
The second question posed by the Keystone Group was, ""How can we transform correctional leadership and the workforce in ways that empower staff in reducing recidivism and promoting prevention?" This question emerged out of discussions concerning correctional leadership and staff competencies and skills, morale, motivation, and understanding of or commitment to agency missions. In examining these and related issues, the group identified as the central issue the concept of empowering corrections staff.
However the idea of genuine empowerment comes to be defined, and one of the first tasks of the Topic Team will be to define it, it will involve profound changes in any correctional organization. It will require an alteration of the existing constellation of labor boards, unions, and human resource divisions and a redefinition of the boundaries between custodial, treatment, and support staff and services so that all are actively involved in the change processes necessary to increase offender success, reduce recidivism, and promote prevention. It will affect recruiting, hiring, and workforce development practices or policies and offer significant opportunities to improve the field and make correctional agencies employers-of-choice.
A wide variety of strategies for transforming correctional leadership and the workforce were discussed and may be considered by the correctional workforce topic team. These include many previously proposed responses such as; long-term recruitment strategies; national certification, educational incentives and training standards for managers; a national Corrections College; system-wide cross-training; and the application organizational development and community development strategies and methods to workforce issues. Many innovative strategies for transforming correctional workforce were also suggested; using communities of practice to explore, clarify and build staff competencies around boundaries and roles; social network driven enterprises; regional inter-agency team-managed solutions; funding for results by providing incentives to individuals for organizational performance. All of these ideas, and any others the correctional workforce topic team develops, will on the table for further examination.
The teams will explore bodies of knowledge, synthesize the knowledge most useful to the field, translate it into accessible forms appropriate for its differing audiences, and guide efforts to disseminate that knowledge through multiple approaches and communication vehicles. These two topic teams will have the potential to drive new policy initiatives that strategically bind science and practice to achieve their goals.
A more detailed description of each topic will be available by the end of January 2009 by email or through the Norval Morris Project's online community discussion forum on NIC's website or by clicking on this link: http://nicic.gov/FriendsForum.
Summary
Efforts of these magnitudes outlined in either of the above topics would touch on every aspect of correctional policy and practice. These could mean a qualitative change in its mission, a reengineering of its operations and practices, and a transformation of its workforce. It would require a reorientation of corrections in its relationship to families, communities, other governmental and non-governmental human service organizations or systems, and the private sector, as well as to its staff. It would require corrections to expand its mission beyond just reducing recidivism to embracing prevention. Such an undertaking would demand the full support of legislative and judicial bodies as well as executive leadership at the Federal, State, and local level and require increased transparency and collaboration throughout corrections.
The purpose of the Norval Morris Project is to find the pathways corrections can follow to lead the country into a future very different from the one we confront today. The spirit of the Norval Morris Project is to draw on every available body of knowledge, whether from within or outside the criminal justice arena, to develop practical responses to the challenges confronting the field. In keeping with the inclusive spirit of Norval Morris, both topic teams are looking for additional members who can offer insight, creativity, energy, information, and some good work. These initiatives will take the effort of many people, the engagement of a multitude of agencies, and the good will of various movers and shakers within corrections, the political arena, and the rest of the country.
How to "Enlist" in a Topic Team
If you are interested in lending your expertise and effort to one of these, please contact the J-SAT staff liaisons: Jennifer Diebel (Jennifer@j-sat.com ) or Nancy Cebula (nancy@j-sat.com ) on by calling (303) 544-9876.
Much of the work by the two topic teams will be done through the NIC Website. This invitation is posted on the main Norval Morris Project page (http://www.nicic.org/Norval ) and also on the Norval Morris Community Forum site (http://nicic.gov/FriendsForum) where you will also find responses and comments from other Friends of the Norval Morris Project.
Instructions for participating in this forum will follow in a separate message.