**U.S. Department**

**320 First Street, NW**

**Washington, DC 20534**

**Morris L. Thigpen**

*Director*

**Thomas J. Beauclair**

*Deputy Director*

**Robert Brown**

*Chief, Academy Division*

**Jim Cosby**

*Chief, Community Services Division*

**Harry Fenstermaker**

*Chief, Financial Management Division*

**Virginia Hutchinson**

*Chief, Jails Division*

**Christopher Innes, Ph.D.**

*Chief, Research and Information Services Division*

**BeLinda Watson**

*Chief, Prisons Division*

**Donna Ledbetter**

*Project Manager*

**National Institute of Corrections**

*www.nicic.gov*

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CORRECTIONS

**REPORT TO THE NATION FY 2012**

Learn, Achieve, Perform

June 2013

NIC Accession Number 026790

The National Institute of Corrections values your feedback. Please follow the link below to complete a user feedback survey about this publication. Your responses will be used to assist us in continuing to provide you with high-quality learning and informational materials.

http://NICIC.gov/Go/UserFeedback

Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The National Institute of Corrections reserves the right to reproduce, publish, translate, or otherwise use and to authorize others to publish and use all or any part of the copyrighted material contained in this publication.

**CONTENTS**

**Message from the Director**

**About the National Institute of Corrections**

**Snapshot**

**Outreach**

Advisory Board Hearings

Networks and Forums

Chief Jail Inspectors’ Network

Learning Administrators’ Virtual Community

Community Corrections Collaborative Network

Human Resource Directors Forum

Focus Groups

Food Service Administrators

High-Risk Offenders

Military Corrections

Conferences

Hosted Events

Partnerships

Newsletters and Updates

**Snapshot**

**Service**

Prison Rape Elimination Act

Technical Assistance

Training

Research

Systematic Approaches to Improving Correctional Performance

Achieving Performance Excellence Initiative

Pretrial, Probation, and Parole

Pretrial

Probation and Parole

Special Populations

LGBTI Offenders

**Facility Operations**

Indian Country Jails

New Jail Planning

Jail Management

Green Corrections

**Snapshot**

**Training, Networks, and Forums**

Learning Centers

Learning Center Statistics

Virtual Instructor-Led Training

E-Learning for Line Staff

Popular E-Courses

New E-Courses in Fiscal Year 2013

Satellite/Internet Broadcasts

Regional Training Initiative

Division Training

Jail Inspectors

Direct Supervision Jails

Center for Correctional Leadership and Management Studies

Offender Workforce Development Specialist Training

Offender Employment Retention Specialist Training

Women Offenders Training

Executive Leadership for New Wardens

Operational Practices in the Management of Women’s Prisons

Correctional Leadership for Women

Conducting Security Audits

Training Development

**Snapshot**

**Technical Assistance**

**Snapshot**

**Information**

Print and Digital Communications

**MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR**

This document is the latest edition of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Report to the Nation. With many new programs and agency initiatives unlike any we have experienced in the recent past, this fiscal year (FY) 2012 report is one I am very pleased to present. Despite our small budget and size, we continue to operate with agility, responding to the needs of local areas around the country to safeguard communities while providing training and professional development opportunities to correctional professionals throughout the country. Our staff meet with officials to assist them with some of the toughest problems facing our nation’s criminal justice system. This document is evidence of our dedicated work.

We accomplished a great deal in FY 2012. We successfully hosted two widely attended public hearings. The first was held on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, against the backdrop of realignment and corrections reform occurring throughout the state. Invited guests shared testimony on the current status of corrections while providing hopeful remarks, suggesting that recent changes in sentencing, reentry programming, and others are signals of reform. The second hearing, held in Washington, DC, at the U.S. Department of Justice, captured concerns among practitioners about the ever-rising cost of corrections in America, its cause, and what we can begin to do about it.

Also in FY 2012, NIC hosted two very important national symposia—one for states involved in the Evidence-Based Decision Making Initiative and another for pretrial agencies. These symposia and a national summit for states involved in the Transition from Jail to Community Initiative were landmark events. They were the first of their kind for NIC.

As many of you may already know, 2012 is my last full fiscal year in office as director of NIC. I am very proud of the work of the staff here, and after 18 years, I leave with a feeling of almost wanting to stay. Many of the exciting new things to come from NIC in the years ahead are ones that no one would want to miss. However, I am pleased to go knowing that the good work of this agency will continue. We have a great staff, and the fruit of their work results in wins for us all, from lowered rates of recidivism in the states to better leadership, training, and improved security within individual agencies. This annual report highlights their efforts.

**Morris L. Thigpen**

*Director*

National Institute of Corrections

**ABOUT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CORRECTIONS**

**History**

In September 1971, a 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 about the handling of the riot by corrections administrators and elected officials, and recognizing the problems in corrections facilities and programs at the state and local levels, Attorney General John Mitchell convened a National Conference on Corrections in Williamsburg, VA, in December of that year.

In a keynote address at the conference, Chief Justice Warren Burger recommended the establishment of a national training academy for corrections that would:
    - Encourage the development of a body of corrections knowledge, coordinate research, conduct executive seminars, and formulate policy recommendations.
    - Provide professional training for corrections employees.
    - Provide a forum and exchange for the discussion and evaluation of advanced ideas in corrections.
    - Bring about the long-delayed and long-neglected professionalism of the field.

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) was established in 1974 in response to this recommendation, with training as a primary function. It received its first appropriation in 1977, and is currently housed within the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons.

**Mission**

NIC is a center of learning, innovation, and leadership that shapes and advances effective correctional practice and public policy.

**Strategic Outcomes**

The outcomes of NIC’s activities contribute significantly to the achievement of the following state, local, and federal correctional goals and priorities:

**Effectively managed prisons, jails, and community corrections programs and facilities**

We will provide services in effective planning, management, and operations strategies that provide constitutional, ethical, humane, safe, and cost-effective prisons, jails, and community corrections programs and facilities.

**Enhanced organizational and professional performance in corrections**

We will provide education and training opportunities in management, leadership, and specialized areas based on value-centered principles and best practices that will continually enhance organizational and professional performance.

**Community, staff, and offender safety**

We will promote correctional practices and procedures that maximize the safety of the community, staff, and offenders; hold offenders accountable; and improve the likelihood of offenders choosing responsible, law-abiding behavior.

**Improved correctional practices through the exploration of trends and public policy issues**

We will promote the exploration of critical issues and the shaping of public policies that improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and humane quality of practices that impact corrections.

**Enhanced services through improved organizational and staff effectiveness**

We will provide opportunities for organizational and professional growth that enhance our services. We will implement a strategic management process that leads to improved organizational structure, management practices, and program planning that support the mission and vision, consistent with available resources.

**Enabling Legislation**

Legislation as mandated by Congress (Public Law 93–415) enables NIC to provide training, technical assistance, and information services to the field. NIC is guided by a 16-member advisory board appointed by the Attorney General.

SNAPSHOT

The development of the Women Offender Reentry work group, a subgroup of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, was the direct result of a 2-day conference—Meeting the Reentry Needs of Women: Policies, Programs, and Practices—held in Washington, DC, during March 2012. The event was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Women’s Health and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Nearly 200 people attended and participated in events that addressed issues affecting women in reentry, including legal and policy issues, physical and behavioral health, trauma, parenting, housing, education, and employment. Examples of promising national practices were also presented.

The Women Offender Reentry work group comprises about 30 individuals representing offices within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; the U.S. Departments of Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development; the National Institute of Corrections; the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; and the Washington, DC, Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency. Linda Mellgren from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and Maureen Buell, Correctional Program Specialist at the National Institute of Corrections, are co-chairs.

The work group’s task is to develop an action plan specific to women’s reentry planning that will be submitted to the Women Offender Reentry work group for feedback and to the Federal Interagency Reentry Council for consideration. The action plan promotes the following five objectives:
      - To provide policymakers and program providers with context regarding the lives of women and female adolescents who become involved in the criminal justice system, including information about pervasive themes such as exposure to trauma, substance abuse, mental health, motherhood, and the nature of offenses and their underlying causes.
      - To identify federal policy, program, and system barriers to women’s successful reentry and to identify actions that federal agencies can take to alleviate or reduce those barriers.
      - To identify and increase evidence-based and research-informed practices for reentry programming for women, including services related to trauma, substance abuse, mental health, parenting, housing, and employment.
      - To increase the potential for access to additional resources and services and to enhance the existing women’s reentry field by developing a broader network of federal, state, and local governments, advocates, and service providers committed to improving services and outcomes for justice-involved women.
      - To encourage federal agencies to leverage program resources to promote successful reentry for justice-involved women more effectively.

The work group has identified a series of action items to help achieve each of these objectives. Most action items are scheduled to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2013.

**OUTREACH**

Even in today’s world of interconnectivity, it is necessary to reach out purposefully to those you serve. The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) does this in numerous ways, from public hearings to networks, forums, and more. Through its efforts, NIC directly touches the lives of thousands of corrections professionals and aspiring correctional staff. These efforts in turn have the indirect effect of making communities safer, making facilities more secure, and improving the lifelong outcomes of those who make contact with the criminal justice system.

**Advisory Board Hearings**

NIC has a 16-member advisory board (appointed by the Attorney General) to advise the Institute and offer assistance in performing its mission. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, the board hosted a series of public hearings to:
    - Educate members of the NIC Advisory Board about important trends in corrections-related policy, programs, and practices.
    - Provide NIC with input and advice from the field that can be integrated into the Institute’s vision and strategic plan.
    - Promote excellence in identifying and meeting the needs of the field of corrections.

The first hearing, “Shifting the Focus to Reshape Our Thinking Toward Performance-Based Outcomes,” was held at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, on November 2–3, 2011. Testimony included remarks from some of the nation’s top thought leaders in corrections, practitioners in the field, and invited guests outside of corrections for their insight and unique perspective. Discussions highlighted the need for cultural change throughout the criminal justice system so the field can effectively address its most serious and persistent problems (such as employee performance, program effectiveness, and corrections budgets) and influence key stakeholders. Taking center stage was the California realignment process and its nationwide influence on discussions about reentry, sentencing, and overcrowding as the nation looks on to evaluate the state’s success.

Following the hearing, NIC made a summary of the hearing events available on its website. In addition, NIC began publishing the Achieving Performance Excellence series of documents, which provides solutions for developing the cultural change that had been discussed at the hearing.

The second hearing, “Balancing Fiscal Challenges, Performance-Based Budgeting, and Public Safety,” was held at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on August 22–23, 2012. Developing more fully the concept of maintaining effectiveness in a time of widespread cutbacks, the hearing featured testimony from criminal justice and financial/statistical experts who revealed insights about the causes of rising corrections costs amid decreasing budgets and what the field can do about it.

The second hearing also provided a platform for the official announcement of the Corrections Cost Containment Center, an online resource providing a roadmap for correctional agencies to realize improved fiscal outcomes. See *www.nicic.gov/costcontainment* for more information.

A summary of the testimony from the second hearing is available on the NIC website.

**Networks and Forums**

**Chief Jail Inspectors’ Network**

NIC held the 14th annual Chief Jail Inspectors’ Network (CJIN) meeting in July 2012 at the National Corrections Academy in Aurora, CO. The participants represented 17 states and 18 agencies, including representatives from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Various network members offered agency updates, and NIC arranged for presentations on inmate suicide and on legal issues in jails.

The proceedings for the CJIN meeting are available for review on the CJIN forum, Jail Inspectors’ Vault, at *http://community.nicic.gov/media/p/84356.aspx*. The CJIN forum is an online gathering place for professionals engaged in the jail inspection field. This unique networking opportunity, made possible through the NIC Corrections Community, allows inspectors to stay in touch and communicate with colleagues and other jail professionals in a timely and efficient manner.

**Learning Administrators’ Virtual Community**

In FY 2012, NIC launched a new forum, the Learning Administrators’ Virtual Community, on the Corrections Community website. The official kickoff conference was held online on December 5, 2011. The forum is NIC’s latest network and the only one to address the needs of career trainers in corrections. This fiscal year, the Learning Administrators’ Virtual Community launched three thought leader webinars on topics that included “gamification,” which is a way of adapting a lesson so that it can be taught by video game; “e-motional e-learning,” which addresses individuals’ emotional intelligence and its effect on their performance in the workplace; and evidence-based distance learning.

**Community Corrections Collaborative Network**

In response to a technical assistance request in November 2011, NIC convened a series of meetings to discuss the viability of forming a working group of community corrections professionals. Results from the meeting indicated that there was a need for such a group and that it would benefit the field if NIC invited nationally and internationally based corrections associations, such as the American Probation and Parole Association, the International Community Corrections Association, the Association of Paroling Authorities International, the National Association of Probation Executives, and the National Association of Pretrial Service Agencies, to be part of this working group. The group assembled in Washington, DC, on September 26 and 27, 2012, to form the Community Corrections Collaborative Network (CCCN). After the first meeting, the members determined that the group’s mission would be to “serve as the forum to develop and work the emerging issues, activities, and goals of the community corrections field.”

The group members agreed to develop a position paper to examine the reinvestment of resources into community corrections. CCCN wants to create a shared message and understanding of community corrections; influence legislation, funding, and policy at the federal, state, and local levels; and assist in prioritizing research areas on national and international fronts, which will aid in promoting evidence-based practices. The next CCCN meeting is scheduled for February 20–21, 2013, and the position paper is expected to be finalized in FY 2013.

**Human Resource Directors Forum**

In September 2012, NIC conducted a focus group with 12 human resource directors from departments of correction around the country. This meeting was an invaluable opportunity to bring together, for the first time, a group responsible for agency compliance with federal and state laws, agency policies and practices, and the management of employee accountability factors. The goal was to identify and develop universal strategies in corrections for limiting agency liability and exposure.

**Focus Groups**

**Food Service Administrators**

Food service administrators from around the country met with NIC to discuss issues related to food service in corrections, including legal responsibilities, food allergies, religious diets, safety/security, reentry as it relates to inmate job skills and certifications, industry, emerging trends and products, recruitment and retention, leadership, and staff stress management/wellness. The meeting concluded with a brainstorming exercise that resulted in a model 3-day all-hands meeting and training that would ideally be held at the National Corrections Academy in Aurora, CO. Participating agencies included representatives from:
    - Ada County Jail (ID).
    - Jacksonville City Jail (FL).
    - Cook County Jail (IL).
    - Denver County Sheriff’s Office (CO).

**High-Risk Offenders**

NIC conducted a focus group in July 2012 to review the current status and the effectiveness of NIC’s Management of High-Risk Offenders Program. This program was provided to state agencies in the past but had not been used for several years. However, with recent legal issues and heightened interest in administrative segregation, NIC realized that updating this program would increase its usefulness to prisons around the country. Thus, the program was completely reviewed and a focus group was called to aid in defining the six advanced objectives that would be used in the soon-to-be redesigned program. The objectives include having an understanding of:
    - The legal and constitutional management of high-risk segregated populations.
    - Due process for the placement and retention of high-risk segregated populations.
    - Sound safety and security practices for managing high-risk segregated populations.
    - Programming opportunities for high-risk segregated populations.
    - The different types of specialized populations (security threat groups, disabled offenders, female offenders).
    - The methods for transitioning high-risk segregated populations back to the general population and ultimately to the community.

The revised Management of High-Risk Offenders Program is expected to be ready and available for programming in 2013. It will be retitled Management of High-Risk Segregated Populations.

**Military Corrections**

In July 2012, directors and deputy directors of the U.S. Armed Forces were invited to talk with NIC about military corrections. This focus group engaged the correctional agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense that are often overlooked. NIC’s intent is to provide training, technical assistance, information services, and policy/program development assistance to these military agencies, as it does for federal nonmilitary, state, and local correctional agencies.

**Conferences**

For NIC, conference attendance is important to reaching out and responding to the broad training needs of the corrections field while also ensuring that NIC staff stay current on the issues important to the field of corrections. Conference attendance and participation enable NIC to train the most varied groups of individuals in one sitting. Attendees come from many states and have varying levels of understanding, experiences, and management and/or expertise. Thus, it remains a cost-effective means of interacting with constituents and providing them with training in a rich environment of professionally diverse individuals. Following is a list of conference outreach and training that NIC provided in FY 2012:
    - NIC continued its partnership with the American Correctional Association’s (ACA’s) Committee on Correctional Training by co-facilitating workshops on Learning and Performance Trends at both the winter and summer ACA conferences in 2012.
    - Offender Workforce Development Specialist training activities included presentations at the following conferences: –  Correctional Education Association Leadership forum in Columbia, MD, on April 1–3, 2012.  –  National Transitional Jobs Network conference in Baltimore, MD, on April 12–13, 2012.  –  National Career Development Association conference in Atlanta, GA, on June 21–23, 2012.  –  In collaboration with the Correctional Education Association, a reentry track including 14 workshops at the Correctional Education Association conference in St. Paul, MN, on July 29–August 1, 2012. 
    - At the 2012 American Jail Association conference, NIC sponsored several training sessions covering legal issues, inmate behavior management, evidence-based decisionmaking, and crisis intervention team training.
    - Women offender training was provided at the following events: –  Association of Paroling Authorities International–Increasing Positive Outcomes for Women Offenders: Applying the Research and Principles of Gender-Responsiveness to Parole Decision Making and Supervision.  –  American Probation and Parole Association–Off the Streets: Connections, Community, and Commitment.  –  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Behavioral Health conference–What Works for Women: Risk, Need, and Responsivity.  –  Second Chance Act conference—Working with Women and Girls: Gender-Responsive Treatment Strategies in Corrections.  –  Residential Substance Abuse Treatment grantees—Women Offender Research and Practice.  In addition, a session on women offender issues was offered to a Chinese delegation from Shanghai as part of an overall presentation on community corrections. 
    - Presentations titled “Setting Parole Conditions” and “Vicarious Trauma on Parole Boards” were offered at the Association of Paroling Authorities International annual training conference.
    - NIC co-facilitated workshops on “Learning and Performance Trends” at both the winter and summer 2012 ACA annual conferences.
    - A simultaneous face-to-face and virtual conference workshop was conducted during the annual training conference of the International Association of Correctional Training Personnel in October 2011. The first of its kind for NIC, the session was titled “Assessing Readiness for the Shift to Staff Performance Enhancement.”
    - Workshops on crisis intervention teams were presented at the following conferences: –  ACA.  –  American Jail Association.  –  North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents.  –  American Probation and Parole Association. 

**Hosted Events**

NIC’s hosted events are intensive training sessions that focus on specialized topics and are made available to invited participants. Much broader than workshops or classroom training, these events are designed to assist agencies that have participated directly in an NIC initiative. Noteworthy events in FY 2012 included the Transition from Prison to Community (TPC) National Reentry Summit and the Evidence-Based Decision Making and Pretrial symposia.

NIC hosted the TPC National Reentry Summit at the National Corrections Academy in Aurora, CO, on March 27–28, 2012. The Bureau of Prisons and the following state departments of corrections participated: Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. Representatives from the TPC sites shared their challenges and successes in implementing TPC in their jurisdictions.

Chinese delegation sits with NIC staff following a day-long presentation on community corrections programming.

In December 2011, the Women and Trauma Federal Partners Committee held the second of two roundtables focused on women’s issues. Titled “Transforming Trauma: Working toward Effective Policies and Promising Practices,” the event was attended by more than 200 participants. The purpose of the roundtable was to:
    - Identify promising practices, gaps, and policy implications that address trauma in the lives of women and girls.
    - Expand the dialogue, knowledge base, and opportunities for collaboration among federal partners and stakeholders.
    - Emphasize a multisystem approach to address awareness, prevention, appropriate assessment, intervention, treatment, education, outreach, and sustainability.

**Partnerships**

NIC values its partnerships with federal, state, and community-based organizations. They are central to NIC’s success. Following is a list of partnerships and their outcomes from FY 2012:
    - NIC helped revise the standards and accreditation supplement on the definitions of learning and training released by ACA. This work was done in partnership with the ACA Committee on Correctional Training, and the supplement is applicable to all ACA standard sets.
    - NIC supported the revision of ACA’s Correctional Training Academy Standards. Completed in partnership with the ACA Committee on Correctional Training and NIC’s Correctional Training Directors Forum, the revised standards are now in the piloting stage.
    - Chaired by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Department of Labor, the Women and Trauma Federal Partners Committee was launched in April 2009 to build awareness and stimulate cross-agency action regarding women, girls, and trauma. NIC is strongly represented on this committee and contributes both expertise and knowledge on justice-involved women, the effects of trauma with this population, and access to nationally known presenters on these topics.

**Newsletters and Updates**

In addition to face-to-face outreach, NIC relies heavily on electronic messaging systems, such as e-mail and electronic syndication feeds, to reach its constituents. Beginning in FY 2010, NIC reached out to citizens through regular e-mail updates highlighting agency news and new additions to the NIC Information Center collection. Since then, NIC has developed several newsletters and expanded its electronic outreach systems. In May 2012, NIC enabled syndication of *Corrections from the Field,*NIC’s newsletter, for the first time. Nearly 1.5 percent of the publication’s readers use this feature each month to share with others the news they find important to them.

SNAPSHOT

**Milwaukee’s Early Intervention Strategy**

With support from the National Institute of Corrections through the Evidence-Based Decision Making in Local Criminal Justice Systems Initiative, Milwaukee County, WI, is undertaking an effort to re-engineer its Early Intervention Strategy for offenders. The goal of the program is to:
      - Maximize the county’s opportunity to support and encourage prosocial attitudes and behaviors among those who become involved in the criminal justice system while maintaining public safety.
      - Minimize the potential unintended negative consequences, such as social stigma, exposure to higher risk offenders, and loss of prosocial supports (family, employment, educational activities, etc.).
      - Deliver swift services and interventions to offenders in need of such help, commensurate with that offender’s risk to reoffend and the presence of factors that are indicators of criminal behavior (criminogenic needs).

In addition to helping the county meet these goals, the new Early Intervention Strategy ensures the best use of criminal justice resources by reducing the costs of processing cases for those at lower risk to reoffend. Instead, the county can invest its resources in those who pose the greatest risk to the community and those who need help the most.

Milwaukee’s Early Intervention Strategy includes the following key components:
      - Assessing pretrial defendants (individuals who are awaiting trial) to determine their likelihood/risk for pretrial success (defined as appearance in court and lack of misconduct while in pretrial status).
      - Informing decisions about bond types, ranges, supervision levels, and supervised conditions for pretrial defendants based on results from their pretrial risk assessments.
      - Identifying (through the use of nationally recognized long-term risk assessment tools) low-risk offenders who may be eligible for interventions other than criminal charges and, in appropriate cases, diverting these individuals to avoid the potential negative consequences of further involvement in the criminal justice system.
      - Assessing the risk factors that contribute to future criminal behavior among eligible moderate-risk offenders and considering postcharge, preconviction deferred prosecution for these individuals, providing for swift interventions aimed at reducing the offender’s risk to reoffend.

Milwaukee County implemented stage one of its Early Intervention Strategy (pretrial risk assessment and risk-informed decisionmaking) in February 2012. After the first 6 months of implementation, the county realized a 4-percent decline in the jail population. Projections based on simulation modeling of the stage two and stage three implementation strategies (precharge diversion* and deferred prosecution,** respectively) suggest that the county can expect significant decreases in the jailed population over the next 5 years.

* Precharge diversion is an alternative to criminal prosecution for low-risk offenders meeting specific criteria.

** In deferred prosecution, a prosecutor agrees to forgo conviction, or felony conviction depending on the charge and agreement, if the defendant agrees to comply with certain conditions.

**SERVICE**

Providing services to the corrections field is at the core of all activity at the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). Whether through training, technical assistance, or the myriad programs we develop and implement throughout the country, offering solutions that assist correctional agencies in fulfilling their core missions is at the heart of what we do.

**Prison Rape Elimination Act**

Under Section 5 of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003, NIC was tasked with educating, training, and providing implementation assistance on PREA-related programs throughout the nation’s correctional system. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, work progressed on the development of several products, including components of a legal issues toolkit and a policy development guide for agencies housing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex offenders.

**Technical Assistance**

In FY 2012, some of the responsibility of fulfilling PREA initiatives shifted from NIC to the National PREA Resource Center (PRC). NIC’s primary role now is to support the PRC’s technical assistance program, which is done by advising the PRC on possible responses to requests and directing requesters to other NIC initiatives and resources that can supplement the PRC’s response.

Since NIC began its work on the PREA Initiative in 2003, corrections has advanced in addressing staff sexual misconduct and inmate-on-inmate sexual assault. Today, the PREA-related technical assistance that NIC provides is more complex than in years before. Instead of simply introducing PREA to practitioners, NIC now provides assistance with investigations training, sexual safety training in women’s prisons, and operational and cultural assessments. Moreover, with the promulgation of the final PREA standards, agencies are more frequently asking for assistance regarding the implementation of specific standards.

The PRC also receives requests for other types of technical assistance. When these types of requests come in, NIC reviews them for possible referral to one of its divisions, existing programs, or new initiatives. This partnership between NIC and the PRC enables both organizations to be responsive to the needs of the field.

**Training**

In addition to assisting PRC’s technical assistance efforts, representatives from NIC also serve on the task group charged with developing the training for PREA auditors. NIC is now beginning work on a series of e-learning modules that will address a number of PREA-related issues. The planning for the first of these modules, which will focus on basic investigations, will begin in late 2012.

**Research**

As members of the Attorney General’s Work Group, National Institute of Corrections Correctional Program Specialists Dee Halley and Lorie Brisbin were nominated for the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award in fiscal year 2012. Ms. Halley served as NIC’s Prison Rape Elimination Act Initiative manager. The two will receive the award in October 2012.

Part of its Research and Information Services Division, NIC’s PREA Initiative incorporates both quantitative and qualitative measurement in its development, evaluation, implementation, and delivery of PREA services. In 2008, Dr. Barbara Owen and Dr. James Wells completed a study (funded by the National Institute of Justice) that examined the contextual factors that contribute to violence and safety in women’s correctional facilities. NIC awarded the team a cooperative agreement to further validate the findings and then shorten and finalize the validation of the Women’s Correctional Safety Scales. NIC and its partners have made significant progress toward the development of an instrument using these scales to measure sexual safety in women’s facilities. Throughout 2012, the team has been testing the scales, and additional discussions are taking place regarding the development of an electronic user’s manual.

**CULTURE WORK IN ACTION**

In fiscal year 2012, the National Institute of Corrections concluded its culture-focused work with the Indiana Department of Corrections. By the conclusion of the fiscal year, the department had conducted cultural assessments at the central office and at Pendleton Correctional Institution to improve its culture. The department also enhanced its Indiana Justice Mode, which incorporated the agency’s mission, vision, and values and included training and communication strategies to implement its culture-focused plan. The department also trained staff on motivation techniques to improve interaction with offenders.

**Systematic Approaches to Improving Correctional Performance**

**Achieving Performance Excellence Initiative**

The Achieving Performance Excellence (APEX) Initiative is an agency-driven systems approach to building capacity for higher organizational performance, implementing best practices, and practicing data-driven decisionmaking using multiple self-assessment tools. A guidebook series was developed that contains interventions, tools, and resources. It includes the development of the following major components, each designed and written specifically for the field of corrections:
    - Guidebook Series.
    - Assessment Tools.
    - Initiative Training.
    - Public Safety Model.
    - Change Management Model.

**APEX Guidebook Series**

The APEX Guidebooks were released in FY 2012. Six books are now published on NIC’s website and the APEX topic webpage *(www.nicic.gov/apex).* The final book, *APEX Resources Directory Volume 1,* is in production.

**APEX Assessment Tools**

The APEX Assessment Tools include:
    - The APEX Screener, a brief self-administered survey assessing organizational readiness for change and the eight APEX domains (see exhibit 1).
    - The APEX Organizational Profile, which looks at the organization’s operations, environment, relationships, and situation.
    - The APEX Inventory, a more comprehensive assessment of the eight APEX domains and readiness for change than the Screener.

Fifty-five people from the Iowa Department of Corrections and the Story County (IA) Jail/Sheriff’s Office attended the first APEX Initiative training and are working on change efforts. The Iowa Department of Corrections has three APEX projects under way. Story County has completed one project, a second one is in process, and a third is in the planning stage.

The Kentucky Department of Corrections executive team participated in an APEX orientation session in September 2012. Thirty-four executives and staff from Lake County (IN) Community Corrections and the Minnesota Department of Corrections attended APEX training through technical assistance grants.

**APEX Initiative Training**

The APEX Initiative training is designed to familiarize correctional practitioners with all of the resources included in the APEX Initiative, especially with regard to the use of the Public Safety Model as a systems approach to decisionmaking, the change management process, and communications planning. The training consists of a 1-day orientation session with the executive team and other designated staff and a 2-to 4-day training session for up to 30 participants. The participants are encouraged, but not required, to bring real change efforts/projects to the training so they can begin to work on developing the change effort. Followup is also available to encourage continuous learning, to provide support during implementation, and to enhance sustainability of the changes.

**APEX Public Safety Model**

The APEX Public Safety Model presents a comprehensive picture of a correctional agency and factors that contribute to correctional excellence. Its eight domains, as shown in exhibit 1, provide a unique lens for a systems approach to decisionmaking and organizational assessment.

**Exhibit 1. Eight Domains of the APEX Public Safety Model**
      - Leadership.
      - Operations (safe and secure supervision and settings, performance management).
      - Organizational culture.
      - Stakeholder focus.
      - Workforce focus.
      - Strategic planning.
      - Measurement, analysis, and knowledge management.
      - Results.

**APEX Change Management Model**

The APEX Change Management Model is a systems-approach roadmap designed for correctional agencies to use when contemplating performance improvement and/or change efforts. It includes six stages:
    - Plan and assess.
    - Define the goal.
    - Organize people for results.
    - Build the detailed implementation plan.
    - Implement the change management plan.
    - Sustain the change.

For more information about APEX, please visit *www.nicic.gov/apex*.

**Pretrial, Probation, and Parole**

**Pretrial**

NIC received the 2012 Partnership Award from the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA) at the association’s 40th Annual Conference and Training Institute. The award recognizes a stakeholder organization or individual that has done the most throughout a given year to advance NAPSA’s mission of promoting pretrial justice through the development and support of pretrial services agencies nationwide. In its presentation, the NAPSA board of directors recognized NIC’s continuing commitment—particularly through the staff of its Community Services Division—to advancing pretrial justice by prioritizing pretrial release and diversion in its Evidence-Based Decision Making Initiative, sponsoring the Pretrial Executives Network, developing an Orientation for Pretrial Executives training, and targeting results-oriented technical assistance to localities and individual pretrial agencies. Through the award, NAPSA also recognized its partnership with NIC in its hosting of the 2012 National Symposium on Pretrial Diversion and its development of the publication *Measuring What Matters: Outcome and Performance Measures for the Pretrial Release Field (http://nicic.gov/Library/025172).*

**Probation and Parole**

The Second Chance Act supports the development and implementation of evidence-based programs that will enhance public safety and reduce offender recidivism. The Second Chance Act Demonstration Field Experiment: Fostering Desistance through Effective Supervision is a collaborative initiative between the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the National Institute of Justice, and the National Institute of Corrections to generate new evidence about effective solutions for managing the increasing number of offenders who are released from institutions and reintegrated back into their communities.

Using a randomized controlled experiment, the researchers will assess the outcomes of offenders who have been exposed to interventions by parole supervision officers who have received training on effective core correctional practices. NIC’s role in this initiative is to develop a training curriculum that will focus on effective case management and supervision strategies, cognitive behavior applications, and enhanced motivational interviewing. Three pilot sites (parole supervision agencies) will be selected to participate in this research initiative.

Figure 1 shows the results of an evaluation of the training program.

**Special Populations**

As the populations of the nation are unique, so are the populations of offenders who are managed in the nation’s correctional system. Although every offender is an individual, groups with similar characteristics (such as gender, disability, or mental health status) require similar types of care. The training and information that NIC provides gives corrections practitioners and policymakers the tools for developing effective strategies within their own systems for working with offenders who have special needs.

**Figure 1. Orientation for Parole Board Members Training Program**

**An evaluation of the training found the following:**

**GENDER IDENTITY DISORDER**

In fiscal year 2012, Dr. Don Lewis, Chief Psychiatrist of the Bureau of Prisons, presented an NIC-hosted webinar titled “Gender Identity Disorder.” The objectives of this well-attended presentation included:
      - Defining the key terms related to Gender Identity Disorder (GID).
      - Reviewing the diagnostic criteria for GID.
      - Discussing the implementation of the Bureau of Prisons’ new GID policy.
      - Reviewing the history of transgender issues, including relevant legal issues.
      - Identifying care standards from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health for GID.
      - Reviewing co-occurring disorders commonly associated with GID.

The recording of this presentation is available on the NIC website at *http://nicic.gov/Libiaiy/025870*.

**LGBTI Offenders**

Because of recent changes in federal and state legislation, court decisions, settlement agreements, and dissemination of the final ruling of the PREA standards, the management of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) offenders has become an emerging and more prominent issue in corrections. In FY 2012, NIC pioneered an initiative regarding the safe and respectful management of the LGBTI offender population. It includes the launch of a general webpage specific to LGBTI offenders and separate webpages addressing the medical, mental health, and juvenile offender needs of this group. See *www.nicic.gov/lgbti* for more information.

In FY 2013, NIC will host a live satellite/Internet broadcast titled “LGBTI Populations: Their Safety, Your Responsibility,” which will address practitioners’ concerns about working with this population and strategies for effective management. Other upcoming projects include the publication of a policy guide, policy tools, the launch of a law and policy webpage, presentations at national conferences, and the formation of an advisory group to inform best practice approaches to issues particular to this group of offenders.

**Facility Operations**

**Indian Country Jails**

**SUICIDE PREVENTION**

In fiscal year 2012, the Office of Federal Detention Trustee (OFDT) and the U.S. Marshals Service called upon the Bureau of Prisons Psychology Department to help them implement suicide prevention initiatives in the jails in which they have contract beds. NIC assisted the Bureau of Prisons by developing training specific to the missions of OFDT and the U.S. Marshals Service, including a training webinar for jail staff nationwide. Subsequent to that webinar, which was held at the National Corrections Academy, OFDT disseminated over 900 DVDs of the training to the jails that provide contract services to OFDT. A copy of that training is available on the NIC website.

In FY 2012, NIC joined with the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA’s) Office of Justice Services to develop training specifically for Indian country jails. The project will span 3 years and will focus on jail administration, jail staffing analysis, and jail standards.

In FY 2012, NIC redesigned its Jail Administration training program to reflect the unique realities of Indian country jails. Although the course topics pertain to all jails, each module within the course reflects considerations specific to Indian country. The first program was conducted in Albuquerque, NM. Three additional programs are planned—two for FY 2013 and one for FY 2014. At the conclusion of the program in FY 2014, NIC will give BIA the full curriculum so BIA can continue to train its own future personnel as needed.

Also in FY 2012, NIC developed a training program called “Staffing Analysis in Jails” for BIA detention specialists and inspectors. This program was conducted in December 2012. It was designed to equip trainees with skills to conduct staffing analyses for Indian country jails, thus helping BIA and tribes accurately identify the needs of individual jails throughout Indian country.

In the latter part of FY 2013 or in FY 2014, after BIA formally adopts a set of jail standards, NIC will work with BIA staff and jail administrators to develop a peer review process in support of standards compliance. NIC will also work with BIA to conduct training on the peer review process.

**New Jail Planning**

The most expensive and complicated capital expenditure that many local jurisdictions face is the construction and subsequent operation of a new jail. All too often, because many local officials have little or no experience in this area, they relegate important decisions to contracted planners, architects, and construction firms. However, NIC recognized more than 30 years ago that officials must actively direct the planning process to ensure that new jails meet the detention needs of their jurisdictions. Through its popular Planning of New Institutions and How to Open a New Institution programs, NIC has enabled sheriffs, commissioners, and other local government officials to better plan and manage this daunting process. Beginning in FY 2011 and continuing through FY 2013, NIC has been revising the services it provides under this initiative based on new concerns such as sustainability, construction and financing or delivery methods, newer inmate supervision techniques, and feedback from officials to ensure the efficient and effective use of their taxpayers’ money.

Services under this initiative address the full range of new jail planning activities, such as:
    - Technical assistance in assessing the policies and practices of local criminal justice partners (e.g., law enforcement, courts, prisons) as they affect a jail’s population.
    - Classroom training at the National Corrections Academy that helps participants determine how a jail will be used, who a jail will house, and what a jail’s operational philosophy will be in a local area.
    - Onsite assistance in planning for and managing all phases of development and construction.
    - Technical assistance with planning the operations and opening of a new jail and conducting a postoccupancy evaluation.

NIC has also been instrumental in the development of numerous publications on various topics in this area. They are available in a variety of formats at no cost through NIC’s Information Center.

**Jail Management**

“Jail Resource Management” and “Jail as Part of County Government” are two popular NIC programs that have been available since the 1990s, with updates to the programs occurring regularly throughout the years. In FY 2012, NIC initiated extensive content changes to the programs to address more contemporary jail issues and to incorporate more fully the principles of adult learning.

**Jail Resource Management**

In response to the current fiscal climate and needs of jail administrators, NIC significantly expanded the focus of “Jail Resource Management” to include analysis of an array of resources, such as people, partner organizations, property, and funding. The program helps participants think more creatively about potential resources, where to find them, and how to use them.

**Jail as Part of County Government**

“Jail as Part of County Government” is one of NIC’s longest standing programs. It focuses on improving the working relationship between officials responsible for operating the local jail and the jail’s funding authority. The program focuses on the liabilities inherent in operating a jail and the participants’ roles in mitigating these liabilities. Participants explore their challenges in funding and operating the jail, and they learn methods of working cooperatively to improve the jail and protect the local government from costly lawsuits. The program was significantly revised in FY 2012 to ensure all content is current and to incorporate training strategies effective for adult learners.

**Green Corrections**

During FY 2012, NIC partnered with FHI 360, a nonprofit human development organization, to work on green corrections planning with departments of corrections in Washington, Minnesota, and Maryland. Washington is refining its procurement policies on purchasing green products and developing a training curriculum to teach offenders about working in the field of green strategies. The Minnesota Department of Correction will enhance its educational and vocational programs by incorporating environmental literacy and green strategies. The Maryland Department of Corrections will review best practices from other jurisdictions and develop a comprehensive green strategy to implement statewide.

In FY 2013, NIC will host a series of webinars related to green corrections programming.

SNAPSHOT

Training is a key component of many of the services that the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) offers its constituents. To accommodate the needs of these groups, NIC provides training using the broadest range of technologies. This ensures both the usability and accessibility of its training to the broadest range of individuals.

NIC’s training has always focused on advancing knowledge in the field by developing the skills of top-level practitioners. With this top-down approach, NIC has seen its greatest impact among upper-level and midlevel managers, who make crucial decisions that affect how money is spent, how programs are implemented, and how workforces around the nation view their role as partners in the criminal justice system.

In fiscal year 2012, NIC launched its first learning management system dedicated solely to the staff who make direct contact with offenders every day. Housed under the Frontline Learning Center, this revolutionary collection of frontline-level training allows NIC to touch the lives of corrections workers directly, wherever they are located. For agencies, it can mean lowered training costs. For staff, it is a convenient and effective online alternative to traditional classroom-based learning. Exhibit 2 is a real-world account of the effect that the Frontline Learning Center is having on corrections operations.

Exhibit 2. Letter from a Constituent (Excerpt)

This is just a note to let you know how much we appreciate you being instrumental in getting the Frontline classes in the NIC system. Since non-supervisors can take the classes, it is a tremendous help to our agency. We are mandated to get forty (40) hours of training on a yearly basis.

We have approximately 156 Missouri Department of Corrections Staff Members [who] have registered for classes.... I have received many positive comments about the Frontline classes. As you know some people like to work online with the self-pace process.... 

Walt Harrison, Corrections Training Officer Saint Louis Community Release Center

**TRAINING, NETWORKS, AND FORUMS**

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) offers classroom training, virtual instructor-led training (VILT), and e-courses to correctional staff via its online learning centers. In addition, NIC offers satellite/Internet broadcasts, which participants can register for through NIC’s website.

Classroom training is available both at the National Corrections Academy in Aurora, CO, and at locations throughout the country as determined by need. VILT courses are taught by a live instructor in an online classroom. Participants can network, share experiences, and interact with each other from their own computers in real time, just as they would in a traditional classroom setting. E-courses are self-paced, online courses that allow participants to pause and resume prerecorded training modules at their convenience. There are currently three learning centers available to support different audiences and NIC initiatives.

NIC’s vast collection of training options makes learning opportunities available for participants with the broadest range of learning abilities, work schedules, and training budgets.

**Learning Centers**

The NIC Learning Center *(http://nic.learn.com)* is available to correctional professionals who work in executive management, middle management, firstline supervision, offender programming, or training/staff development. This learning center provides access to NIC classroom training, VILT, and e-courses. Currently, over 250 e-courses are available on a variety of topics, including corrections, leadership, management, and problem solving.

The PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) Learning Center *(http://nic.learn.com/PREA)*contains the e-course “Your Role: Responding to Sexual Abuse.” All staff working in correctional settings are eligible to register an account in this learning center. This e-course supports the requirements of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.

The Frontline Learning Center *(http://nic.learn.com/frontline)* is available to correctional officers, detention officers, probation and parole officers, reentry specialists, correctional health professionals, and other correctional line staff. All participants receive a 60-day pass that will allow them to take as many e-courses as they like within that time. Currently, more than 90 e-courses are available on a variety of topics, including corrections, communication, personal development, and team skills.

Upon completion of any learning center training, participants immediately receive a certificate acknowledging their participation. They also have access to technical support and a transcript of course completions that they can access at any time.

**Learning Center Statistics**

Corrections professionals working in federal, state, and county corrections agencies accounted for 87.7 percent of all participants who received training from NIC learning centers in fiscal year (FY) 2012. Table 1 presents agency affiliation data for all active users on September 30, 2012.

Corrections professionals working in adult prisons and jails accounted for 57.8 percent of all participants in the NIC and PREA Learning Centers. Table 2 presents data on the primary area of corrections affiliation for all active users on September 30, 2012.

**Table 1. Type of Agency as of September 30, 2012 (14,130 Active Accounts)**
| **Type of Agency**                        | **Frequency** | **Percent** |
|-------------------------------------------|---------------|-------------|
| County                                    | 6,816         | 48.2        |
| State                                     | 4,414         | 31.2        |
| Federal (Bureau of Prisons)               | 1,088         | 7.7         |
| Private                                   | 662           | 4.7         |
| City                                      | 295           | 2.1         |
| Federal (Other)                           | 277           | 2.0         |
| Municipality                              | 187           | 1.4         |
| None Listed                               | 132           | 0.9         |
| Regional                                  | 106           | 0.8         |
| Indian Country (Tribal)                   | 76            | 0.5         |
| U.S. Commonwealth or Territory            | 33            | 0.2         |
| Foreign                                   | 28            | 0.2         |
| Indian Country (Bureau of Indian Affairs) | 16            | 0.1         |
| Total                                     | 14,130        | 100.0       |

**Table 2. Primary Area of Corrections as of September 30, 2012 (14,130 Active Accounts)**
| **Primary Area of Corrections**             | **Frequency** | **Percent** |
|---------------------------------------------|---------------|-------------|
| Adult Jail                                  | 5,981         | 42.3        |
| Adult Prison                                | 3,778         | 26.7        |
| Adult Community Corrections                 | 1,530         | 10.8        |
| General Corrections                         | 1,028         | 7.3         |
| Adult Other                                 | 760           | 5.4         |
| Juvenile Detention                          | 578           | 4.1         |
| Secure Juvenile Facility or Training School | 191           | 1.4         |
| Juvenile Community Corrections              | 153           | 1.1         |
| None Listed                                 | 131           | 0.9         |
| Total                                       | 14,130        | 100.0       |

During FY 2012, 80 classroom programs, 36 VILTs, and 250 e-courses were available to corrections professionals. A total of 17,113 corrections professionals logged in to register for classroom programs, to launch an e-course or VILT, or to review training history in the three learning centers. Additionally, 1,958 corrections professionals completed an NIC classroom program or network meeting, 484 completed an NIC VILT, and 12,300 completed an e-course. The use of e-courses among corrections professionals increased at a rapid pace when compared to previous years. Participants completed 28,522 e-courses during FY 2012, which is a 73-percent increase over FY 2011 and a 171-percent increase over FY 2010 (figure 2).

**Virtual Instructor-Led Training**

Popular VILT courses in FY 2012 included those in the Unleash Your Leadership Competency Potential series, with programs specifically designed for supervisors, managers, and senior-level leaders. Each was delivered in partnership with NIC Regional Training Initiative teams.

In FY 2013, VILT courses will focus on new content and topics derived from a Learning and Performance white paper, which will be released in the same fiscal year. The Learning and Performance Initiative was responsible for the development of the following VILT courses in FY 2012:
    - Learning in WebEx: Making NIC’s Virtual Instructor-Led Training Work for You! (three deliveries).
    - Critical Issues in Staff Performance Enhancement (two deliveries).
    - Assessing Readiness for the Shift to Staff Performance Enhancement (two deliveries).
    - Applying Blended Learning Solutions in Your Organization.

**Figure 2. NIC Training Completions at a Glance**

    - Using E-Strategies to Reach Our Corrections Young Adult Workforce.
    - Designing E-Strategies for Staff Performance Enhancement.
    - Managing, Coordinating, and Participating in Distance Learning Environments.

These VILT courses are interactive and model best practices for the field of corrections that are ever evolving based on transforming learning and performance research into practice. Also new this fiscal year was the creation of a Curriculum Delivery Assessor role during VILT deliveries, which allows the National Corrections Academy to build “delivery learnings” into the next planned delivery of VILT curriculum packages.

**E-Learning for Line Staff**

NIC began offering e-courses to line staff in January 2012 via the Frontline Learning Center *(http://nic.learn.com/frontline).* As of September 30, 2012, 752 frontline staff have registered an account at a rate of 7.52 per day. Frontline participants have completed a total of 4,882 e-courses, which is about 2.60 completions per account. A survey of account holders indicates:
    - Ninety-one percent agree or strongly agree with the statement: “The e-courses in this learning center are applicable to my job.”
    - Ninety-two percent agree or strongly agree with the statement: “Online learning is an effective way for me to acquire new knowledge, skills, or abilities.”
    - Eighty-nine percent agree or strongly agree with the statement: “I would recommend this learning center to other correctional frontline staff.”

Additional comments from survey respondents included the following:
    - “I really enjoyed these courses. They were informative, concise, and time-saving.”
    - “Having these educational courses available to me will not only continue my education, but enhance my ability to do my job more effectively.”
    - “I have learned so much from this website! I hope to take many more courses in the future.”
    - “I believe that these courses are a great way for correctional officers to gain knowledge through training for job-related situations.”
    - “Absolutely one of the best online programs I’ve come across.”
    - “Since our Department has made budget cuts in the area of training, there is very limited training offered, but we are still required to have 40 hours of training in for the year. [It] has been extremely helpful to get our training hours completed with these online courses. Also, the training was interesting, helpful, and applicable to my job.”

**Popular E-Courses**

NIC’s most popular e-courses cover a broad range of topics, reflecting the vast diversity of learning options that corrections audiences require and that NIC provides.

“Your Role: Responding to Sexual Abuse” provides a comprehensive overview of PREA and increases participants’ understanding of the dynamics of sexual abuse among male inmates, female inmates, and correctional staff. This course teaches participants how to respond effectively and appropriately to allegations of sexual abuse in a correctional facility. During FY 2012, a total of 7,043 corrections professionals completed this e-course.

The three e-course series, “Interpersonal Communication Skills with Offenders,” provides correctional professionals with the knowledge and skills to communicate effectively with offenders. These courses were completed by 2,487 participants during FY 2012.

“The Role of the Correctional Leader/Manager” analyzes the distinction between the concepts of management and leadership, with a particular focus on rapid political, economic, social, and technological changes. This course was completed by 788 participants during FY 2012.

“Objective Jail Classification: Assessing Inmate Risk and Needs” provides participants with concepts and procedures that will help them implement a classification process based on objective criteria. Participants also learn how to use instruments and tools for assessing an inmate’s risks and needs. This course was completed by 553 participants during FY 2012.

**New E-Courses in Fiscal Year 2013**

In FY 2013, NIC will launch the e-course “Overview of Motivational Interviewing.” Motivational interviewing (MI) is based on the idea that ambivalence (feeling two ways about something) is a normal aspect of change. By using specific techniques and applying the “spirit of MI,” corrections professionals can help increase offenders’ motivation to make changes in their lives that will reduce their likelihood of reoffending. This course will be available in the NIC and Frontline Learning Centers.

**Satellite/Internet Broadcasts**

NIC’s satellite/Internet broadcast series is a collection of 3-hour live television broadcasts that viewers can watch from a computer or satellite feed individually or as a group. Designed in talk show format, these engaging broadcasts are composed of panels of subject-matter experts who discuss timely topics in corrections. Vignettes demonstrating concepts reviewed in discussions are included throughout the broadcast. Viewers can become part of the discussion by asking panelists questions directly via e-mail, telephone, and live chat.

Enhancements to NIC’s satellite/Internet broadcasts this fiscal year included the use of the television studio at the National Corrections Academy for one-on-one interview shoots, increased use of prerecorded video footage in live broadcasts, and the use of flexible studio sets. The total viewing audiences for FY 2012 are estimated at about 10,000 viewers per broadcast, primarily via the Internet.

During FY 2012, NIC hosted two broadcasts addressing offender employment and its link to successful reentry. The first broadcast, “Correctional Industries: A Working Solution” *(http://nicic.gov/Library/025293),* discussed the success of the nationwide Correctional Industries program, which helps agencies assist offenders in securing job skills and relevant training during incarceration; this helps make employment opportunities available to offenders upon completion of their sentences. The second broadcast, “Offender Employment Retention: Worth the Work” *(http://nicic.gov/Library/024978),* highlighted opportunities available within the NIC Offender Employment Retention Initiative, including the evidence-based Offender Employment Retention training, and presented real-world tips for helping agencies develop and improve their offender employment reentry programs.

The final broadcast of FY 2012 was “Health, Justice, Women: Transforming Systems—Saving Lives” *(http://nicic.gov/Library/026332).* Produced in collaboration with subject-matter experts from the mental health, correctional health, and criminal justice fields, the broadcast explored the best research, strategies, and resources available for effectively addressing the health needs unique to women offenders. In FY 2013, NIC will continue the dialogue begun in this program with “Health, Justice, Women: Part Two, Justice-Involved Women’s Reproductive Health Care Issues.” In this broadcast, panelists will examine in depth the needs of women who are incarcerated while pregnant and those who suffer from mental illness, whether as the result of trauma in the aftermath of abuse or because of genetic conditions.

Plans are under way to develop additional broadcasts throughout FY 2013. Broadcasts will include:
    - LGBTI Offenders: Their Safety, Your Responsibility.
    - From Research to Application: The Case for Learning and Performance (2-day interactive training broadcast).
    - Health, Justice, Women: Part Two, Justice-Involved Women’s Reproductive Health Care Issues, February 20, 2013.

NIC hosts the satellite/Internet broadcast “LGBTI Offenders: Their Safety, Your Responsibility.”

**Regional Training Initiative**

The Regional Training Initiative is NIC’s longstanding volunteer-based program, where trainers across the country enlist to provide much-needed instruction to departments of corrections throughout their region and in neighboring states. Different from the broad-based training that NIC provides, regional training focuses on topics (such as immigration, gangs, or terrorism) that disproportionately affect a geographical area. The regions are divided into four groups: western, central, northeastern, and southern.

Regional demand has been high for particular NIC programs, including:
    - Essential Skills for New Supervisors.
    - Unleash Your Leadership Competency Potential (delivered nationwide).
    - The Mindful Supervisor (delivered in multiple regions).

In 2012, the Regional Training Initiative also conducted “Unleash Your Leadership Competency for Supervisors” as a unique course prerequisite for participants in the FY 2013 Management Development for the Future program series conducted for multiple county jails in New Jersey.

**Division Training**

**Jail Inspectors**

Jail inspections can be a key to effective and efficient jail operation. To help jails in this area, NIC offers the New Jail Inspectors’ Training (NJIT) to the field of detention.

Consistent with NIC’s mission, in 2002 NIC developed NJIT (which is offered to jails at no cost) in support of states’ efforts to improve jail conditions and operations through standards and inspections. After nearly 8 years, NIC realized it was necessary to update the existing curriculum and associated training materials to reflect changes in the field. In FY 2011, NIC began working on a comprehensive curriculum reworked to bring the training up to date and revised according to the Instructional Theory into Practice model for adult learners. With these improvements, NIC can provide custom-tailored training to new jail inspectors; this training has the added benefit of providing participants with opportunities to network with their colleagues from across the United States. NIC will hold the first revised NJIT classroom training during late FY 2013 or early FY 2014.

**Direct Supervision Jails**

Direct supervision jails combine the benefits of good correctional facility design with an inmate management strategy that can significantly reduce violence, vandalism, and other problem inmate behaviors commonly seen in jails throughout the nation. Officers closely supervise inmates and interact extensively with them to manage their behavior in correctional facilities designed without barriers, such as bars or security glass, between them and the inmates. Jail operations, the design of the correctional facility, and jail furnishings are all designed to encourage positive inmate behavior and discourage problem behavior.

In the early 1980s, NIC introduced direct supervision to the nation’s jails and has provided services in this area ever since. Over time, the needs of jail practitioners in relation to direct supervision have evolved. NIC’s services also have evolved in response to the needs.

In FY 2012, NIC developed new training programs on the role of the supervisor and housing unit officer in a direct supervision jail. NIC conducted these programs 3 times for 21 jails. By the end of FY 2013, NIC will also develop a training program on the role of administration in a direct supervision jail and will publish a streamlined self-audit instrument for direct supervision jails.

**Center for Correctional Leadership and Management Studies**

NIC recognizes that although some leaders may have the inherent skill to lead, all leaders, regardless of their abilities, benefit when they receive training that sharpens their focus, updates their skills, and teaches innovative strategies for meeting contemporary challenges.

The Center for Correctional Leadership and Management Studies, an NIC project, strives to promote evidence-based management practices. It provides courses applicable to correctional supervisors, middle managers, senior-level leaders, and executives while focusing on a university model concept. The Center is working to create positive relationships with colleges and universities whereby correctional leadership and management research can be shared among a variety of learners. Current research efforts target transformational leadership, authentic leadership development, psychological capital, emotional regulation, psychological safety, positive psychology, and emotional intelligence.

Courses in the center are taught according to a university model, which extends the accessibility of NIC’s leadership and management development programs, allowing coursework to be available to correctional staff who may not be at the supervisor, manager, senior, or executive levels currently. Learners following this model complete courses progressively, depending on their position; i.e., participants below the managerial level begin by taking courses at the supervisor level prior to progressing to coursework at the manager level.

**Leadership and Management Development Series**

NIC continues to prepare correctional agencies for current and emerging challenges through its leadership and management development series of courses, including Executive Excellence, Correctional Leadership Development, and Management Development for the Future.

Executive Excellence is taught in three phases. Phases 1 and 3 are taught at the National Corrections Academy and phase 2 is taught online, providing virtual instruction in six sessions over a period of 10 months. The result is that Executive Excellence is a fully blended training program. In FY 2012, NIC offered two Executive Excellence classes, both of which will graduate in FY 2013.

Two iterations of Correctional Leadership Development were delivered to senior-level leaders in FY 2012 in partnership with the Virginia Department of Corrections. NIC also partnered with the Newport News (VA) Sheriff’s Office and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to help Maryland develop an in-house version of this program. The 9-day residential Correctional Leadership Development program was conducted at the National Corrections Academy in Aurora, CO, on July 10–19, 2012.

NIC partnered with five departments of corrections nationwide (Virginia—two separate programs, Iowa, Wisconsin, Delaware, and Wyoming) for various phases of the blended Management Development for the Future series. The first of this three-phase program will begin in three jurisdictions (Colorado Division of Adult Parole, New Jersey Multiple County Jails, and Salt Lake County, Utah Sheriff’s Office) during the first quarter of 2013.

**Captains’ Leadership Curriculum: Areas of Challenge**

Originally created by NIC for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in 2010, the Captains’ Leadership Curriculum was completed by 24 BOP captains in FY 2012. The course is a positional and leadership competency-based training that teaches BOP captains how to develop a blueprint for their individual leadership development based on the results of two assessments, multiple assignments, facilitated sessions, and inter-session activities.

**International Leadership**

In 2012, NIC presented five training programs that shared U.S. leadership lessons with international partners. The programs are joint efforts between the U.S. State Department, BOP, and NIC. Two major courses include Developing Correctional Leaders for Mexico and Developing Correctional Leaders for Lebanon.

Developing Correctional Leaders for Mexico was linked to the Mexican government’s strategic plan and was based on NIC’s Advanced Correctional Leadership Development Model and BOP’s Institutional Activation model. It was offered five times in FY 2012 at the following locations:
    - United States Penitentiary, Hazelton, WV.
    - National Corrections Academy, Aurora, CO.
    - Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, CO.
    - Federal Correctional Complex, Oakdale, LA.
    - Federal Correctional Institution, Miami, FL.

The correctional complexes and institutions were selected and used as learning laboratories to help the leaders from Mexico understand the day-to-day practices of leading and managing in a complex correctional environment. As a result of the program, NIC helped the Mexican government develop a cadre of more than 100 senior-level correctional leaders for their own correctional system. A third year of training is planned. NIC’s Core Competency Model and all curricula have been and continue to be translated into Spanish.

Two programs are anticipated for Developing Correctional Leaders for Lebanon, which will be based on the Developing Correctional Leaders for Mexico project framework. NIC anticipates developing over 50 senior-level Lebanese correctional leaders through the training program and will translate the NIC Core Competency Model and curricula into Arabic to facilitate completion of the project.

**Offender Workforce Development Specialist Training**

In collaboration with the National Career Development Association *(www.ncda.org),*NIC provides Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS) Partnership Training to state and local corrections and their partnering agencies. Participants who complete the 160-hour competency-based training program are eligible to apply for Global Career Development Facilitator certification through the Center for Credentialing and Education, Inc. *(www.cce-global.org).* They are also eligible to apply for six undergraduate- or graduate-level college credits through Indiana State University.

In FY 2012, after previously pilot testing a blended delivery strategy that reduced classroom time from 3 weeks to 2 weeks by incorporating six e-courses from the NIC Learning Center, the following agencies hosted OWDS Partnership Training:
    - Maricopa County Probation in Phoenix, AZ—week 1 in FY 2011 and week 2 on December 12–16, 2011, with 28 graduates.
    - Hawaii Department of Public Safety in Honolulu, HI—week 1 on October 17–21, 2011 and week 2 on January 28–February 1, 2012, with 26 graduates.
    - Hamilton County in Cincinnati, OH—week 1 on February 27–March 2, 2012 and week 2 on June 25–29, 2012, with 34 graduates.
    - Kansas Department of Corrections in Hutchinson, KS—week 1 on August 6–10, 2012 and week 2 planned for FY 2013.
    - New Mexico Corrections Department in Albuquerque, NM—week 1 on September 10–14, 2012 and week 2 planned for FY 2013.

The Indiana Department of Corrections in New Castle hosted OWDS instructor training on August 21–23, 2012. Thirteen OWDS instructors, including staff from the Indiana Department of Corrections, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Tennessee Department of Corrections, earned certification.

**Offender Employment Retention Specialist Training**

NIC’s specialized Offender Employment Retention Specialist (OERS) training is grounded in the principles of social cognitive theory. It combines cognitive-behavioral principles with motivational interviewing strategies to provide participants the knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively administer an Employment Retention Inventory that supports an offender’s long-term attachment to the workforce while addressing the barriers that impact recidivism. This performance-based training emphasizes the transformational process that supports effective case management leading to offenders’ successful self-management.

In their own words, people who take the OERS training say they do so because:
    - “Working with incarcerated offenders in state jail settings and numerous other correctional settings has increased my desire and motivations to continue to make a difference. I find these services crucial in order to address the challenges of those facing reintegration back into society...especially when considering the many obstacles stacked against them.”
    - “I work with convicted felons who have multiple barriers, which affect their ability to retain employment...and I want to be able to develop partnerships with new collaborators wishing to assist in the reentry initiative.”
    - “Collectively, our goal is to facilitate a smooth transition into the community by helping...justice-involved individual[s] reduce the key barriers to their successful reentry...thus reducing the likelihood for them to return to jail or prison.”

Another training recipient writes, “Daily, I work with our clientele and area businesses, trying to better link them together. But oftentimes those I assist can get a job...but they struggle to keep it.” The OERS training addresses this basic need for reentry professionals to develop the skills needed to help offenders not only secure employment, but also maintain it.

After completing the OERS training, participants were invited to comment on their experiences. A sample of remarks includes the following:
    - “This was extremely beneficial to me. I try to practice and use the skills every day. I’m looking forward to others on my team learning the skills as well.”
    - “The training was very informative and enlightening. The Employment Retention Inventory (ERI) is a dynamic tool that can prove itself indispensable in our work.”
    - “I would love to have my co-workers go through this. The experience is so valuable, and was presented in a great manner.”
    - “The content was dynamic. It should be included in new probation officer orientation.”

Figure 3 shows the results of an OERS pretraining/posttraining assessment.

**Women Offenders Training**

In FY 2012, NIC began revising the training titled “Women Offenders: Developing an Agencywide Approach” into a blended-learning training that will equip leaders and managers with the skills to design policy and programs and put into practice the lessons learned from the training. Participants will learn to use staff resources more effectively and improve outcomes for women offenders.

**Figure 3. Offender Employment Retention Specialist Pretraining/Posttraining Assessment**

**Executive Leadership for New Wardens**

Due to the continual retirements of baby boomers, states have been faced with significant leadership turnover. This has resulted in the request for additional leadership training. NIC was able to add one additional New Wardens’ class during FY 2012.

Figure 4 shows classroom demographics for new wardens’ executive training from April 30 to May 4, 2012.

**Operational Practices in the Management of Women’s Prisons**

Hosted by the North Carolina and Arkansas Departments of Corrections in partnership with NIC, this training helps agencies incorporate research-based, gender-appropriate strategies into the work they do with criminal justice-involved women. The training helps inform policy and practice.

**Correctional Leadership for Women**

NIC partnered with the Maryland and Tennessee Departments of Correction to assist in sustaining the professional development of their growing number of female midlevel management leaders.

**Figure 4. Executive Training for New Wardens Classroom Demographics**

April 30 to May 4, 2012

**Conducting Security Audits**

NIC conducted three security audits in FY 2012. Through this program, facilities get a snapshot of their agency’s security practices through comprehensive security audits conducted by correctional professionals who are not associated with the agency being reviewed. Three-member teams from six to seven agencies across the country complete the audits. For the past few years, members of the Bureau of Prisons Program Review team have participated in this program. In FY 2012, the audited agencies included:

Pennsylvania Department of Correction, May 21–25, 2012
    - State Correctional Institution at Albion
    - State Correctional Institution at Cambridge Springs
    - State Correctional Institution at Mercer

Tennessee Department of Correction, July 9–13, 2012
    - Tennessee Prison for Women
    - Riverbend Maximum Security Institution
    - Turney Center Industrial Complex

Maine Department of Correction, September 9–14, 2012
    - Maine State Prison
    - Maine Correctional Center
    - Two Bridges Regional Jail

**Training Development**

NIC provides training to the corrections field as a core part of its mission; as such, NIC not only considers training for staff, but also training for the individuals who train staff. NIC’s Trainer Development Series is a collection of programs, events, and resources tailored to training the trainer. The series approaches training holistically, tackling both the techniques associated with good instruction and the foundational awareness of the needs of adult learners that are necessary to design training programs effectively.

NIC embarked on a significant initiative to revitalize its Trainer Development Series in FY 2012. By the end of FY 2013, NIC will have revised its curricula for Training Design and Development, Foundation Skills for Trainers, Developing an Effective Field Training Officer/On-the-Job Training Program, and Training for Training Directors. All of these curricula will use, and will teach learners to use, blended delivery formats. Additionally, this initiative will result in a template for creating Training for Trainers curricula that can be applied generically to specific topics.

Information about the Trainer Development Series can be found on the Workplace Learning and Staff Performance Enhancement webpage at *http://nicic.gov/TrainingDesignDevelopment.*

SNAPSHOT

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) receives hundreds of requests for technical assistance (TA) each year. Although available funding is not always guaranteed, all efforts are made to fulfill requests if possible based on agency need and the risk of the request to agency security, operations, and offender management should it not be fulfilled. Requests for assistance vary, from traditional requests such as assistance with the implementation of Prison Rape Elimination Act compliancy models to requests for assistance regarding an aspect of facility management.

One TA request received in fiscal year 2012 came from a facility that specifically asked for help in working with a religious group of which some of its inmates were members. Although the facility attempted to work on its own to control the contentions regarding religion that it was experiencing among inmates and the religious volunteers who worked with inmates in the facility, it found it could not handle the process alone. NIC was asked to provide assistance that would alleviate the contentions and create a lasting environment conducive to religious freedom for all inmates, staff, and volunteers. NIC provided the requested assistance, and the TA event was successful.

Realizing that religious contentions are an ongoing problem for facilities around the country, NIC developed a nationwide forum for religious directors after the TA event was completed. This forum would be a vehicle by which religious leaders working in corrections could communicate with each other on emerging issues.

In September 2012, a focus group was formed; religious directors from across the country met and created an outline that will be developed into a formal training module to be delivered to religious directors and chaplains nationwide in fiscal year 2013.

**TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE**

Technical assistance is one of the many ways in which the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) provides hands-on help to the states, counties, local jurisdictions, and federal agencies that comprise its constituents. This help may be in the form of training, program evaluation, program implementation assistance, or other methods at the request of the agencies that call on NIC. All of NIC’s services are provided at no cost. The number of technical assistance requests completed depends on the requester’s needs and available NIC funding. Figure 5 shows the number of participants who completed technical assistance training in fiscal year (FY) 2012.

**Figure 5. Training Conducted Through Technical Assistance**

The map and table in figure 6 outline the number of technical assistance requests that NIC completed in FY 2012. Highlights include the following:
    - Through technical assistance to the Sixth Judicial District of Iowa, NIC piloted revised Offender Workforce Development Specialist basic skills modules in Cedar Rapids on July 16–18, 2012. Feedback from participants was incorporated into the curriculum, which is a resource for program participants.
    - The most requested technical assistance program was the Thinking for A Change facilitator training, followed closely by requests to build leadership capacity. NIC’s leadership courses help employees increase their skills so they can transfer to higher level positions within their own agency.
    - NIC provided numerous technical assistance events focused on women offenders. These events included train-the-trainer programs that will help sites implement women’s risk and needs assessments and gender-informed assessments in women’s prisons, and will help sites develop statewide plans for managing women offenders.
    - NIC has received a tremendous number of technical assistance requests for help with validation and revalidation of classification instruments. As a result, a focus group was conducted in September 2012 to address the needs of classification departments. A formal training program will be developed to assist agencies with their specific needs, and a collaborative community will also be formed to further assist classification directors with future needs and issues that may arise.

**Figure 6. Technical Assistance Requests by State, FY 2012**

SNAPSHOT

The Transition from Prison to Community (TPC) Initiative is a comprehensive, systems-based approach to the reentry of prison offenders. Relying heavily on the coordinated efforts of federal, state, local, and community partners, the initiative maximizes the available resources of each local area to develop programming, treatment, and opportunities for offenders as they transition from contact with the prison system to more productive lives.

On March 27–28, 2012, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) hosted a summit for agencies actively participating in the TPC Initiative. It included teams from the Bureau of Prisons as well as departments of corrections in Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. At the summit, participants were able to provide recommendations to NIC about how to continue to support and advance evidence-based reentry efforts in the field. More important, participants also had the opportunity to:
      - Report and reflect on the strategies and accomplishments that have made progress in supporting successful offender reentry in each jurisdiction.
      - Share with one another the insights they have gained from the TPC work, including what has worked well or poorly, what the sites could have done differently given their new knowledge, and what guidance participants would offer to peers in other states regarding this work.
      - Consider how other national, state, and local reentry initiatives have complemented the TPC model and its implementation and how best to continue to build on these resources.
      - As a “community of practice,” synthesize their perspectives on what the TPC experience provides as a legacy for public policy regarding corrections and other professions that have an interest in successful transition, reduced recidivism and victimization, community safety, and the wise use of resources.
      - Agree on specific objectives and work plans for each site to best use the final phase of NIC technical assistance (through June 2012) and to plan continuing implementation efforts beyond that time.

During the summit’s final session, participants and faculty were invited to share any remaining thoughts on lessons learned from the summit or from their longstanding participation in the TPC Initiative. Following is a list of their reported outcomes:
      - We must continue to challenge assumptions and be progressive in our work.
      - We must work together collaboratively to be successful.
      - We must continue to be advocates for our work (with the public, legislature, and staff).
      - We must stop doing what does not work.
      - We must recognize that our efforts are about cultural change and these efforts take time.
      - We must recognize that it is acceptable for TPC to lose its “newness.” We want it to become part of “business as usual.”
      - We must think about justice and “bringing justice back to the justice system” through the use of evidence-based practice and a focus on what we know works.
      - We must include transparency in our efforts.
      - We must engage and educate the media and the community and help people understand not only our failures but also our ongoing successes. The more we are able to articulate our public safety goals and talk about our work in a positive way, the more we can encourage community support for our efforts.

State profiles of each state that participated in the TPC Initiative are available at *http://www.nicic.gov/TPCStateProfiles1.*

**INFORMATION**

**Print and Digital Communications**

NIC is pleased to offer audiences training and information in a variety of ways, including both print and electronic publications. These materials meet the needs of users wherever they are, whether at work, at home, or while traveling. For many years, NIC has made publications available electronically (PDF format) on its website. In fiscal year (FY) 2011, NIC took a major step forward in releasing the first mobile version of its website. In FY 2012, NIC advanced in digital publishing with the creation of its first e-book, *Report to the Nation FY 2011,* which will be released in FY 2013.

Following is a list of the documents that NIC released or completed development of in FY 2012:
    - Report to the Nation FY 2011  (e-book).
    - About Us Flier (Spanish).
    - APEX: Building the Model and Beginning the Journey.
    - Culture and Change Management: Using APEX To Facilitate Organizational Change.
    - Achieving Performance Excellence: The Influence of Leadership on Organizational Performance.
    - Understanding Corrections through the APEX Lens.
    - Applying the APEX Tools for Organizational Assessment.
    - APEX Resources Directory Volume 2.
    - Motivational Interviewing in Corrections: A Comprehensive Guide to Implementing MI in Corrections.
    - Exercises for Developing MI Skills in Corrections.

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