Corrections News

Making the transition from line staff to supervisor calls for developing new skills and competencies as well as making a major shift in mindset from doing one’s own work to supervising the work of others. Register yourself and/or your agency for this free, live broadcast on September 15th, 2010.

The newly developed DVD series curriculum from the National Institute of Corrections, titled Self-Directed Essential Skills for New Supervisors, helps fill the gap and focuses on core competencies for supervisors, including developing personal and professional goals, demonstrating leadership, problem solving, critical thinking, decision-making, managing conflict, coaching, counseling, providing discipline, and encouraging staff performance.

Program outcomes for the 3-hour live, interactive broadcast include:

• Examining the personal and professional competencies needed to fulfill the role of a supervisor, including skills in management and leadership, problem solving and critical thinking, communication (oral, written, voicemail, and e-mail), and active listening and responding.
• Assessing personal and professional goals that can be applied to a work setting.
• Demonstrating how to select a mentor to assist in one’s development as a supervisor.

Corrections’ budgets remain in a free fall. Correctional administrators are pressed to effectively manage their correctional agency, facility, division or department given current fiscal realities. Relief options often seem unrealistic or unattainable. What actions can administrators and managers take to offset this reality while at the same time continuing to provide for effective public safety?

The National Institute of Corrections is pleased to announce an important one hour online training opportunity, Corrections’ Budgets in Free Fall: Time for Action, September 22, 2010, 9-10 am MST. Administrators and managers with oversight and management responsibility of fiscal resources within their correctional agencies should not overlook this opportunity to receive great insight and realistic options at their disposal to help cope with the fiscal dilemma they are experiencing. Please don’t miss this event. Register today! One hour of your time could make a big difference in your ability to effectively manage within this budget turmoil.

On September 14, 2010, at 1:00 p.m., E. T., the National Council on Crime and Delinquency's Children Research Center will air the Webinar "Improving Outcomes of Youth in Juvenile Justice Facilities." The session will be led by Janice Ereth, Ph.D., Special Advisor; Susan Gramling, J.D., Senior Program Specialist; and Andrea Bogie, MSW, Research Associate, Children's Research Center.

The Center has developed a protocol for juvenile justice facilities that incorporates best practices to meet youths' educational needs, ensure appropriate academic progress, and provide for successful reentry into the academic and vocational mainstream. The Webinar will provide participants with information about the Center's educational protocol and its experience with data driven-decision making in schools.

Additional resources:

• In Search of Evidence-Based Practice in Juvenile Corrections: An Evaluation of Florida’s Avon Park Youth Academy and STREET Smart Program
• Educational Aftercare & Reintegration Toolkit for Juvenile Justice Professionals:  A Toolkit for Juvenile Justice Professionals in Pennsylvania
• Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Programs:  Performance Evaluation Report
• The School-to-Prison Pipeline…and Back: Obstacles and Remedies for the Re-Enrollment of Adjudicated Youth

Albany Medical College is hosting a free program on October 6, 2010 that is part of an ongoing satellite videoconference series entitled "The Management of HIV/AIDS in the Correctional & Community Setting," which addresses clinical issues in the management of HIV-infected patients. This series is a unique, collaborative venture among Albany Medical College, the New York State Department of Correctional Services, and the private pharmaceutical industry. Each program addresses a different clinical aspect of HIV infection using the same format: didactic lectures, case presentations and a panel discussion. For more information and registration information, go to the broadcast page.

Other Opportunities

• Discover more information on HIV in corrections in the National Institute of Corrections online library.
• Discover more free corrections-related broadcasts provided by the National Institute of Corrections.

The Executive Committee of the Association of Women Executives in Corrections (AWEC) annually presents the Legacy Award to an outstanding professional who has supported the development and contributions of senior and executive women in corrections. AWEC represents over 200 women in leadership throughout the United States.

Director Thigpen has been the agency head of the National Institute of Corrections for over 15 years and has been responsible for ensuring that the National Institute of Corrections’ commitment to the development of women as senior and executive women remains a constant value. Through the well regarded Executive Women’s Training Program, the State Supervisory Leadership program for Women, and programs for women and minorities, NIC has for many years been the core of motivation, professional development, and an important networking source for women in leadership roles.

At the Legacy Brunch and presentation ceremony, Director Thigpen made the following comment: “During 38 years in corrections, I have had the opportunity to watch change in upward mobility of women in the system. I will always remember the meaningful experience at The Castle. We have made progress and a commitment to continue the network. This award is something I will treasure. I can tell you that there is not an award that I possess that will mean any more to me. Regarding AWEC. there are three essential elements in a person: belonging, worth, and competency — AWEC keeps focus on those elements.”

Reprinted with permission from the AWEC website

The National Institute of Corrections is seeking assistance to develop a blended learning curriculum for implementing and sustaining an evidence-based risk reduction approach for first- and mid-level supervisors in any and all correctional settings. The curriculum must adhere to NIC’s Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP) model. The curriculum must be based on applicable literature and products published by NIC over the last several years, as well as current research and practice in the field of corrections, adult learning, and instructional strategies. The curriculum will use a blended learning format and include a distance learning component. It may make use solely of a distance learning approach. The curriculum will be piloted and implemented in a future funding cycle.

• Deadline: Friday, September 3, 2010
• Download the full solicitation
• Read more about Cooperative Agreements

"Greening Corrections: People, Programs, and Practices" is the latest satellite/Internet broadcast to be hosted by the National Institute of Corrections. It provides governments, institutions, and corrections community partners with answers to some of the challenges that accompany the process of switching from traditional ways of doing business to more environmentally friendly practices. Viewers will learn how to apply green principles throughout the justice system, promote green stakeholder partnerships, demonstrate environmental stewardship, identify opportunities for workforce development and correctional industries, and implement best green practices in cost savings. 

This broadcast is free for all agencies.  Please see the attached flyer for more information.

 Registration is required to view the broadcast.  To register, please visit http://www.nicic.gov/Training/SIB07142010.

NOTE: This announcement has been updated to include all questions & and answers as of August 18, 2010 regarding this solicitation.

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is soliciting proposals from organizations, groups, or individuals to enter into an 18-month cooperative agreement to update its 36-hour Executive Leadership for Women in Corrections program, newly titled Strategic Development of the Executive Woman. The award recipient will update the current training and ensure it supports the learning process, leadership styles, and required competencies for executive women in corrections. The award includes responsibility for the updated Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP) formatted curriculum, the contracting and training of NIC-approved faculty, and the administration of participant expenses, including the dispersal of program acceptance letters, coordination of registration, lodging, meals, and transportation. The recipient will also be responsible for conducting, in collaboration with the NIC Research and Evaluation Division, an evaluation of the initial program delivery using the NIC training evaluation protocol. This should represent a minimal cost to the award recipient. The project will also address strategies for additional learning and networking upon training completion. The training is anticipated to begin no later than August 2011.

The pilot will be held at the National Center for Educational Development in Norman, OK. This has proven to be a favorable site in the past and represents the accommodations and amenities expected for future programming.

• Deadline: Friday, August 20, 2010.
  
• Download the full solicitation
• Read more about Cooperative Agreements
• UPDATE 8/18/2010: Questions & Answers