U.S. Department of Justice 

National Institute of Corrections 

Transition and Offender Workforce Development Bulletin September 2009 

Creating a Workforce Development Culture 

To Reduce Reincarceration 

I

n the mid-1990s, offender reentry 

gained visibility as an important public policy issue. At that 

time, organizations such as the U.S. 

Department of Education (ED), the 

National Institute of Corrections 

(NIC), and the National Institute of 

Justice began exploring offender workforce development strategies as an 

avenue for promoting the successful 

reintegration of offenders into communities. These strategies stem from 

the idea that offender employment 

builds communities, increases the 

economic self-sufficiency of families, 

strengthens fragile families, and provides structure and support for those 

seeking to remain crime free. 

In 2003, ED’s Life Skills for State and 

Local Prisoners Program awarded 

a 3-year, $1 million research/ 

demonstration grant to support 

Vermont’s Workforce Development 

Program. Correctional administrators 

in Vermont aimed to reduce recidivism by 25 percent for offenders with 

poor work histories and moderate 

to high risk of reoffending by using 

a strengths-based approach to teach 

fundamental life skills throughout 

education, work, and living units. 
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Message From the Director 

The National Institute of Corrections and the U.S. Department 

of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education have 

compiled information on Vermont’s Workforce Development 

Program, a research-based correctional strategy that teaches 

social and work-related skills to offenders as a means to reduce 

recidivism. This innovative, strengths-based program, which 

extends throughout the correctional facilities’ education, work, 

and living-unit settings, achieved 20-percent and 37-percent 

reductions in recidivism for male and female program participants, respectively, during the evaluation period. In addition, 

within the correctional institutions the program helped foster 

a single organizational culture of shared purpose, values, and 

language, which carried across professional disciplines and 

between staff and participants. 

This program stands as an example of how one state has 

chosen to address offenders who have the greatest needs— 

those with the highest risk of reoffending and those who 

have the worst work histories. The Vermont Department of 

Corrections’ (DOC’s) Workforce Development Program, the 

Community High School of Vermont, and DOC staff should 

be commended for understanding the need to focus on 

offender workforce development, which clearly plays a central 

role in the successful reentry of offenders to our communities. 

Morris L. Thigpen 

Director 

National Institute of Corrections 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Cover Photo: Correctional Foreman Milton Woodard assists 

an offender in the upholstery shop of Vermont’s Northern State 

Correctional Facility. 

Credits: Melissa C. Houston is the author of this bulletin. Photos are 

courtesy of Dana Lesperance. 

This document was prepared under Cooperative Agreement 

Number 06K86GJN0 from the National Institute of Corrections, 

and U.S. Department of Justice and Interagency Agreement 

Number ED–06–AR–0159, from the U.S. Department of Education. 

Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the 

author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the 

U.S. Department of Justice or the U.S. Department of Education. 

NIC Accession Number 023065 

This strengths-based program approach is built on 

participants’ understanding and use of the “Habits of 

Mind,” which are 16 aspects of behavioral intelligence, 

or life skills, that foster effective problem solving. In 

addition to reducing recidivism by 25 percent and reinforcing participants’ acquisition of the Habits of Mind, 

the Workforce Development Program targeted a 90­

percent employment rate within 1 month of release and 

sought to make changes in the organizational culture at 

each of three program sites. 

Participation in Vermont’s Workforce Development 

Program led to a significant reduction in reincarceration, especially for female inmates. In addition, program 

participants gained valuable life skills while incarcerated 

and were more likely to be employed within 1 month of 

release than were inmates in the comparison sample. 

The Workforce Development Program works within 

the “triad of influence,” which is the combination of 

participants’ housing, work, and school environments 

(see exhibit 1). 

Participants attend special classes in school (Habits 

of Mind) and then practice what they have learned in 

those classes in their housing units and correctional 

industries workplaces. This means that participants 

can practice the cognitive strategies they learn in class 

throughout the day, not just during their time 

in school. 

“Frankly, we do know what doesn’t work,” says John 

Gorczyk, program administrator. “Based on high recidivism rates, punishment and traditional institutional 

practices are not effective. This program is built on 

strengths and positive reinforcement. It’s ironic because 

we’ve all known for years of the importance of using 

positive reinforcement over negative reinforcement, and 

when I actually saw the impact and how simple the process was, it was absolutely beautiful” (Huff 2007). 

Creating a Unique Culture 

Certain universal elements define cultures, which 

develop when two or more people relate to each other. 

These elements include having a shared purpose, values, 

language, and systems for education and governance. 

A prison culture is often marked by characteristics 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 1. The Triad of Influence 

Unit

Triad of 

Influence 

School Work

not typically found outside of corrections. Within the 

inmate population the culture is covert, and governance is often exercised through the threat of violence 

(Lucenti and Gorczyk 2005). 

Even within a single correctional facility, different cultures exist. An offender will leave the education building 

with its set of behavioral expectations and enter a housing unit that has a completely different set of expected 

behaviors. The tensions among these different cultures 

also impact staff; conflicts between security officers 

and program staff in correctional facilities are a classic problem. Correctional officers claim that programs 

get in their way and compromise security, whereas 

program staff complain that officers do not hesitate to 

pull inmates out of class and interrupt instruction with 

counts, searches, and lockdowns (Finn 1997). 

[Prison is] the worst place in the world to have any sort 

of healthy thinking. They tell you when you eat, they tell 

you when you can see people, they tell you everything. 

They control your life. [But the program] emphasizes 

what you are powerful over (Huff 2007). 

—Participant 

Vermont Workforce Development Program 

In an ambitious move, Vermont set out to intentionally develop one overriding culture in its correctional 

facilities through the Workforce Development Program. 

Correctional officers, teachers, and shop supervisors 

work in unison to actively foster and support collegial, 

collaborative, respectful relationships among staff, and 

between staff and offenders, so that everyone receives 

the support and supervision they need to work and 

live in a facility in life-improving ways (Lucenti and 

Gorczyk 2005). 

A furniture shop offender mentor (left) assists a new offender in the 

mill room at Vermont’s Northern State Correctional Facility. 

Three professional groups with three distinct missions 

as well as sets of professional principles and practices 

were represented in the program. The education professionals were the faculty of the Community High 

School of Vermont (CHSVT), which is a fully accredited, independent high school administratively housed 

in the Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC). 

Because CHSVT’s mission is “to provide an accredited, 

coordinated, and personalized education that assists 

students in their academic, social, and vocational successes” (Community High School of Vermont 2009), 

there was considerable alignment with the mission of 

the Workforce Development Program. 

This was not the case with the two other professional 

groups representing the workplace and the living units. 

Vermont Offender Work Programs (VOWP), an independent, fully self-supporting manufacturing business, traditionally defined its mission in a manner that 

emphasized profitability and therefore employed only 

long-term, well-behaved offenders with the best work 

histories. To become a full partner in the workforce 

development strategy, VOWP had to shift its focus to 

the offender (or worker) as the primary product and 

employ short-term “problem offenders” who had minimal or no work histories. The living units presented a 

challenge to the success of the Workforce Development 

Program. Transforming the traditional institutional 

culture to one in which authority establishes positive 

behavioral expectations through the frequent use of 

positive reinforcement remained difficult throughout 

the grant period. 

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Correctional Foreman Bruce Page supervises two offenders making 

road signs at Vermont’s Southeast State Correctional Facility. 

The Program’s Core: A Workforce 

Development Culture 

Vermont created its unified culture by choosing to 

operate the Workforce Development Program from a 

strengths-based perspective, characterized in part by 

consistent interactions across disciplines among staff 

and program participants, and by the generous use of 

structured and specific positive reinforcement. 

The Workforce Development Program’s evaluator, John 

Holt, explains, “It’s not a ‘gotcha’ program. You focus 

on the positives and what you can do to increase those 

positives. The data is proving that it works.” 

The design of the program is strongly rooted in the What 

Works1 literature. According to Gorczyk, the issue is, 

“How do you do positive reinforcement if you haven’t 

identified explicitly what it is that you want to positively 

1

For more information about What Works, visit the clearinghouse’s Web page, 

http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc. 

reinforce? If you just keep saying ‘nice job,’ and you’re 

not explicit about what the person did that was good, 

it starts to lose its meaning. The Habits of Mind gave 

us specific cognitive behaviors that we can positively 

reinforce.” 

Habits of Mind 

The Habits of Mind curriculum is based on a series of 

four books written by educators Arthur Costa and Bena 

Kallick (2000) that describe an approach to teaching 

behaviors commonly expected in classrooms and other 

learning environments. The authors suggest that these 

desirable behaviors require a discipline of mind that 

with practice becomes a habitual way of working toward 

thoughtful, intelligent action, especially in uncertain 

and challenging situations. Costa and Kallick believe the 

Habits of Mind should be embedded in all curricula. 

The State of Vermont thought the Habits of Mind were 

important enough to contract with education professionals to develop a curriculum based on the books. 

After a field test and rewrite, the program administrators are pleased with the result. 

Vermont’s Habits of Mind course (Community High 

School of Vermont 2009) aims to: 

■	 Support successful community reintegration. 

■	 Improve employability. 

■	 Improve job retention. 

■	 Enhance, by offender choice, a reconnection to society. 

■	 Build a sense of empowerment through the 

application of new skills. 

■	 Improve collaboration both in the facility and in the 

community. 

The 24-hour course explores 16 Habits of Mind, which 

support thoughtful and intelligent action by teaching 

specific soft skills that can help people take action when 

there is no easily identifiable solution to a problem. 

It’s a pretty simple theory. The better somebody 

thinks, the more chance they’ll make a better decision. 

It’s not really much more complicated than that. 

—Stuart Gladding, Superintendent 

Northern State Correctional Facility 

Newport, VT 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Participants who learn the 16 Habits of Mind] tend 

to pick 5 or so that really resonate and they start living 

them. The telltale sign is that you’ll hear them use the 

phrase, “my Habits of Mind.” It’s no longer the Habits of 

Mind; it’s my Habits of Mind. 

Speaking from a security officer’s perspective, the program gives us a common language to use with offenders 

to address both positive and negative behavior. You can 

use the Habits of Mind to focus the discussion so it is 

meaningful and something productive comes out of it. 

—Dana Lesperance 

Vocational Education & Workforce 

 Development Chief 

Community High School of Vermont 

The Habits of Mind curriculum consists of the following 

topics and activities: 

■	 Introduction to the Habits of Mind and Habits 

Portfolio. 

■	 Thinking about thinking. 

■	 Remaining open to continuous learning. 

■	 Thinking flexibly. 

■	 Persisting. 

■	 Finding humor. 

■	 Striving for accuracy. 

■	 Listening with understanding and empathy. 

■	 Gathering data through all the senses. 

■	 Thinking and communicating with clarity 

and precision. 

■	 Thinking interdependently. 

■	 Creating, imagining, and innovating. 

■	 Responding with wonderment and awe. 

■	 Applying past knowledge to new situations. 

■	 Questioning and posing problems. 

■	 Managing impulsivity. 

■	 Taking responsible risks. 

■	 Putting it all together. 

■	 Class project. 

Many of the lessons include optional teaching activities 

to accommodate a variety of learning styles, ages, genders, abilities, and reading grade levels. 

The Habits of Mind course gives participants the opportunity to experience immediate and direct benefits 

by supplementing its academic component with a lab 

that allows participants to apply what they learn. For 

example, the first lab assignment is an assessment that 

asks participants to identify their top 25 strengths. At 

the end of the lab, participants plan for their futures by 

setting goals and developing transition plans. 

Workplace Application 

Participants learn about the Habits of Mind in the classroom and in the lab, and they are encouraged to apply 

their skills in the living units and in the workplace. 

Production foremen who oversee prison worksites and 

the correctional officers who staff the living units also 

receive significant training and reinforcement in the 

Habits of Mind. During regularly scheduled workplace 

application groups, shop foremen ask program participants to reflect on the past week. 

In a surprisingly relaxed and comfortable environment 

for a prison, participants give examples of how they or 

someone else used one of the Habits of Mind on the job. 

“I used the Habit of Mind of persisting by not giving up 

when I couldn’t get the measurements right on the chair 

I was making,” said one participant. Another participant 

observed, “I applied past knowledge to a new situation 

when I was trying to figure out how to get this order out 

on time.” 

In one instance, an industry site had been experiencing 

quality and production problems before the program’s 

implementation. As the program progressed, a complete turnaround in production and quality occurred. 

Program administrators believe the emphasis on positive reinforcement, coupled with the use of the Habits of 

Mind, provided an avenue for total quality management 

and continuous improvement in the work setting. 

In addition, the ability to practice thinking about how 

they use their Habits of Mind follows participants after 

release: 

During my first meeting with my probation officer, I 

assured her that I did not have to work. I have good 

support from my husband, and he makes enough to feed 

and house both of us. Under my secure exterior was fear 

in applying for jobs and being rejected. I did not want 

to explain where I had been and what I had been doing 

for the past two and a half years. I soon realized that my 

personality would not allow me to remain idle. I could 

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easily fall into the pitfalls of boredom, which would 

be very counterproductive to my recovery from addiction. The first Habit of Mind that I used was taking a 

responsible risk. I began to apply for jobs despite my fear 

of rejection. Other Habits of Mind that came into play 

were applying past knowledge to new situations (knowing myself and also knowing how to apply for jobs), 

thinking about thinking (noticing that I was making 

decisions out of fear), and thinking flexibly (being open 

to different types of work that might fit my situation). 

—Graduate 

Vermont Workforce Development Program 

Evidence of Effectiveness 

I’m just trying to fix my life. I’ve stayed out for 6 months 

now, which is huge. [I was sober, with only one slip.] I 

went back and I used, but I was up front with my probation officer about it. [We discussed how to prevent it from 

happening again. As I see it, the slip was balanced by the 

positive things I am doing.] Keeping a job, seeing my kid 

on a regular basis, keeping my own apartment, paying my 

bills on time—all of that together isn’t to be left at the side. 

—Graduate 

Vermont Workforce Development Program 

The Vermont Workforce Development Program proved 

to be effective in helping participants acquire the Habits 

of Mind, fostering a positive organizational culture, 

increasing employment rates, and reducing reincarceration rates. [Data analysis and narrative in this section 

are drawn from Holt (2007)]. 

Habits of Mind. Ninety-three percent of the male 

participants showed an increase in the acquisition of 

the Habits of Mind, whereas only 73 percent of the 

comparison group showed such an increase; for female 

inmates, the numbers were 96 percent and 63 percent, 

respectively. A relatively high number of comparison 

group members also showed increased acquisition of 

the Habits of Mind because many of these inmates were 

exposed to the Habits of Mind through association with 

participants in the Workforce Development Program 

group. 

Culture. Self-reports from correctional professionals 

engaged in the Workforce Development Program 

indicated that the program had the desired effect of 

promoting a positive organizational culture; however, the more formal aspects of culture (such as basic 

personnel practices, operations, and the allocation of 

resources) did not change as anticipated. 

The changes that occurred did so with some difficulty. 

DOC staff and some of the industries staff struggled 

with the more interactive role that was required of 

them; however, they reported a significant increase in 

their job satisfaction. When asked how much their jobs 

have improved based on participation in the program, 

staff provided the following responses: 

■	 Fifty percent reported greater job satisfaction. 

■	 Forty-six percent reported being more effective at 

their jobs. 

■	 Forty-two percent reported having a more positive 

attitude toward their jobs. 

With respect to communication, staff gave the following 

responses: 

■	 Seventy-one percent reported a greater ability to 

communicate with inmates. 

■	 Thirty-three percent reported a greater ability to 

communicate with other staff. 

■	 Thirty-three percent reported a greater ability to 

communicate with administration officials. 

Based on outcome data and other indicators, Gorczyk 

believes that Vermont has achieved success in creating 

a workforce development culture in its correctional 

institutions: 

We actually had industries staff and education faculty 

participating fully with the DOC staff on security/custody and classification decisions. Management’s decision 

to reallocate resources to support the training of additional staff also supports this conclusion. Most importantly, the Department of Corrections administration is 

slowly becoming aware of the fact that the Workforce 

Development Program is actually not a program at all. 

It’s a different way of doing business that is slowly finding its way into other parts of the DOC operation. 

Employment. Ninety-one percent of the men in the 

experimental group obtained employment within 30 

days of release, versus 64 percent of the control group 

(see exhibit 2). Using 6 months in the labor force as the 

measure of employment retention, the analysis found 

that 95 percent of the men who obtained employment 

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retained it, versus 64 percent for the control group. Sixtyeight percent of the women in the experimental group 

obtained employment within 30 days of release, versus 30 

percent of the control group; job retention for the female 

participants was 92 percent, versus 75 percent for the 

control group. 

Exhibit 2. Employment Following Release 

Percent 

100 

80 

60 

40 

20 

0 

Program participants Controls 

Male	 Female 

Reincarceration. During the grant period (March 2004 

through September 2007), the program served 355 participants—191 women and 164 men who participated 

in 1 or more program services. Of those, 123 women 

and 46 men participated in all program services; this 

group was used to evaluate the effects of participation 

on reincarceration rates. 

Within both genders, the comparison groups and 

experimental groups were high-risk offenders as 

measured by the Level of Service Inventory–Revised 

(LSI–R), with an average score of 26 for both groups.2 

For the 46 men who completed the program there 

was a 20-percent reduction in reincarceration after 

6 months of release; 59 percent of the male participants 

were reincarcerated as compared with 74 percent of 

the comparison sample. For the 123 women who completed the program there was a 37-percent reduction 

in reincarceration after 6 months of release; 38 percent 

of the female participants were reincarcerated as compared with 63 percent of the comparison sample. 

John Holt notes, “For the females, the results are 

far superior to those found in previous studies. A 

37-percent reduction in recidivism is simply remarkable.” (See exhibit 3 for data on male and female 

experimental groups versus control groups.) 

2

The LSI–R is an assessment and screening tool for adult offenders 

(16 and older) that identifies which factors (e.g., a criminal history, 

alcohol/drug problems) in the offenders’ backgrounds and current 

situations put them at greatest risk of reoffense. 

Exhibit 3. Reincarceration 

Percent 

100 

80 

60 

40 

20 

0 

Program participants Controls 

Male	 Female 

Program administrator John Gorczyk agrees that the 

program achieved remarkable results with the female 

population: 

Program staff has speculated that we may have found 

a fortuitous blending of the principles of evidencebased practice with those of gender responsivity. 

The program was specifically designed to be responsive 

to the principles of evidence-based practices. And as the 

program unfolded, we began to realize that strengthsbased supportive supervision, coupled with the strong 

relational aspects of the program as expressed in the 

work experience and more particularly the workplace 

application groups, was very reflective of some of the 

emerging principles and practices associated with 

gender-responsive treatment of female offenders. 

Replicating the Program 

Resources are available for jurisdictions that wish to 

replicate Vermont’s Workforce Development Program. 

The CHSVT curriculum, which is based on the Habits 

of Mind and the strengths-based supervision manual, 

can be downloaded from www.chsvt.org/wdp.html. 

According to Gorczyk, the following guidelines are 

key to the successful replication of Vermont’s program, 

which administrators believe is within the grasp of any 

jurisdiction: 

■	 Hire the best people available to administer the 

program at each facility. 

■	 Encourage local control as quickly as possible. 

■	 Provide consistent and ongoing support. 

■	 Include an objective review of progress and effectiveness to ensure program integrity. 

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In replicating the program, Gorczyk recommends that 

each site have its own project manager. He encourages 

administrators to give those sites the autonomy to implement the program in a way that meets their individual 

needs and at the same time allows them to maintain fidelity to the program model. “I define fidelity here as adhering to the principles and practices identified by the What 

Works literature,” he explains. “Folks at the local level need 

to have a sense of empowerment and ownership. There is 

a lot to be said for thinking flexibly and interdependently.” 

According to Gorczyk, Vermont’s Workforce Development Program should not be limited to a particular type 

of institution. “No matter where you are, or how long you 

are there, the elements of culture are going to become 

operational, either at a covert or overt level, implicit or 

explicit,” he says. “You might as well decide to define the 

positive cultural elements and expectation up front rather 

than allowing them with some passivity to develop on 

their own.” 

Future of the Program 

When the initial grant period ended in September 2007, 

the State of Vermont had to make a decision. The program could end, or each institution could take responsibility to keep it going. At one institution, supervisory 

and line staff stepped up to the plate by developing a 

local manual that carried the program forward after 

the grant period ended. 

Stuart Gladding, Superintendent of Northern State 

Correctional Facility in Newport, VT, observes: 

It’s a great program in that not only do people learn 

a cognitive skill, but they get an opportunity for 

interactive practice. That’s what makes it effective. 

And it allowed us to develop a fairly decent internal 

communication system between service providers, 

our work foremen, and security staff where information got shared on a bunch of different levels. And 

that helps in terms of dealing with inmate behavior. 

Inmates learn about what their weakuniform staff receive 4 hours of training in the principles of strengths-based supervision during basic training, and a proposal to extend the training to probation 

and parole staff is under consideration. 

“This was an opportunity to do something that I had 

been asking other people to do for the last 20 years,” 

Gorczyk says. “Corrections is the most valuable job 

you can have because you’re dealing with both individual liberty interests and public safety. The Workforce 

Development Program is a way of doing corrections 

that is reflective of what we know to be what works. 

We’ve used good methodology, documented it, evaluated it, and demonstrated that it can be done.” 

Program Costs 

The Vermont Workforce Development Program was 

established through a $1 million federal research and 

demonstration grant from the U.S. Department of 

Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education; the 

State of Vermont contributed an additional $60,000. Total 

expenditures from March 2004 through September 2007 

were $1,082,500. The annual breakdown of expenditures 

is as follows: year 1, $188,600; year 2, $350,500; year 3, 

$325,700; and year 4, $217,700. Exhibit 4 shows how these 

funds were spent during the grant period. 

Funding from ED’s Office of Vocational and Adult 

Education provided the Vermont Department of 

Corrections the opportunity to plan, develop, manage, 

and evaluate the program until the grant period ended 

in September 2007. Vermont’s Workforce Development 

Program has since been able to sustain and expand the 

program through an annual award of $100,000 from the 

Vermont State Legislature. The Vermont Department 

of Corrections has also established the position of 

Offender Workforce & Employment Chief to supervise 

the maintenance of this program in the initial sites and 

its expansion to other correctional facilities whose mission includes workforce development. 

Exhibit 4. Expenditures for Vermont Workforce Development Program: 2004–07 nesses are and make conscious choices 

to do something to intervene. 

To date, the Workforce Development 

Program is being sustained at all three initial grant sites, and two additional facilities 

are integrating the principles and practices 

into their regular operations. All new 

Budget Item Amount ($) Percent 

Salary and benefits (four positions) 681,975 63.0 

Curriculum development 241,397 22.3 

Staff training 75,775 7.0 

Incidental operating costs 83,353 7.7 

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9

Related Resources 

Vermont’s Workforce Development Program is only 

one example of NIC’s comprehensive commitment 

to improving employment programs for offenders. 

NIC’s Transition and Offender Workforce Development 

(T/OWD) Division is the primary source of training 

tailored specifically for those who provide employment services for people with criminal records. NIC 

has developed products, programs, and services that 

meet the diverse needs of offender employment service 

providers. These resources are available at no cost by 

contacting the NIC Information Center (800–877–1461; 

asknicic@nicic.gov). In addition, many resources may 

be viewed, downloaded, and/or ordered from the NIC 

website; go to www.nicic.gov, click on “Library,” and 

enter the title or NIC Accession Number of the resource 

you wish to access. E-learning training can be accessed 

at http://nic.learn.com. 

Publications 

Gender-Responsive Strategies: Research, Practice, and 

Guiding Principles for Women Offenders (2003: NIC 

Accession Number 018017). This report indicates that 

gender-responsive practice can improve outcomes for 

female offenders by considering their histories, behaviors, 

and life circumstances. It concludes by offering guiding principles and strategies for improving the system’s 

response to female offenders. The intended audience 

ranges from decisionmakers at the legislative, agency, and 

system levels to those who manage or serve offenders on 

a daily basis. 

Administrative Guide: Offender Workforce Development 

Specialist Partnership Training Program (2007: NIC 

Accession Number 022173). This publication provides an 

overview of NIC’s train-the-trainer program for offender 

employment service providers. This training is offered by 

invitation only to 12-person teams from state and/or local 

jurisdictions for the purpose of developing the local capacity to provide offender workforce development training 

that meets all training requirements for trainee certification 

as a Global Career Development Facilitator. 

Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment: A Review and 

Discussion for Corrections Professionals (2007: 

NIC Accession Number 021657). This publication is 

intended to inform corrections and probation/parole 

professionals about the availability and benefits of 

cognitive-behavioral treatment services geared to the 

specific risks and needs of offender populations. 

Motivating Offenders to Change: A Guide for Probation 

and Parole (2007: NIC Accession Number 022253). 

In this guide, the authors lay out the foundations of 

motivational interviewing and give examples of how 

it can be implemented. Information is presented in a 

common-sense style that is easy to understand. The 

guide serves as a valuable prerequisite and aid to training in the use of this effective technique for facilitating 

positive offender change. 

Topics in Community Corrections, Annual Issue 2007: 

Promising Strategies in Transition from Prison (2007: 

NIC Accession Number 022777). This issue of Topics 

in Community Corrections is an outcome of knowledge sharing about the Transition from Prison to the 

Community (TPC) model. Several of the articles give 

a direct, hands-on account of the issues and challenges 

confronting agencies as they seek to make a significant 

difference in the ability of ex-offenders to stay out of the 

criminal justice system. 

TPC Reentry Handbook: Implementing the NIC 

Transition from Prison to the Community Model 

(2008: NIC Accession Number 022669). This handbook is a resource for a broad range of stakeholders 

involved in improving transition and reentry practices. 

The handbook presents the TPC model and summarizes the experiences and accomplishments of the eight 

states that have helped develop, improve, and bring 

the model to life. The handbook also presents the TPC 

implementation strategy that developed from the eight 

participating states. 

Career Resource Centers: An Emerging Strategy for 

Improving Offender Employment Outcomes (forthcoming: NIC Accession Number 023066). This is the 

second in a series of T/OWD bulletins. It will feature 

descriptions of a jail, prerelease center, and prison 

facilities that have established career resource centers 

to bridge the employment services provided by corrections with the One-Stop career system in surrounding 

communities. Additional resources are provided on the 

publication’s companion DVD. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

An offender adjusts his printing press while printing for 

the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. 

CD/DVD-ROMs 

Career Resource Centers (2005: NIC Accession 

Number 020931). This software package contains 

resources that can be used as a foundation for the 

development of career resource centers in prisons, jails, 

or community corrections offices. Resources include 

career information videos, the O*Net Interest Inventory, 

Occupational Outlook Handbook, Career Guide to 

Industries, and a self-paced and/or group-facilitated curriculum for training volunteers and/or offenders to help 

individuals with criminal records transition back into 

the labor market. 

OES: Building Bridges (2006: NIC Accession Number 

021698). This curriculum, endorsed by the National 

Career Development Association, is a multi-DVD/CD 

set that presents an entry-level training program for 

offender employment specialists. The set includes 

more than 5 hours of video incorporated into a 

3-day curriculum. 

Simulated Online/Kiosk Job Application (2008: NIC 

Accession Number 022996). This CD-based simulation 

training program is designed to help offenders prepare 

for computerized job applicant screening systems. It 

provides basic information about computerized employment applications, a printable worksheet that can be 

used to prepare the offenders for using these systems, 

and a full-length interactive application with contextsensitive help. 

Satellite/Internet Broadcasts 

Building Futures: Offender Job Retention Distance 

Learning Training (2002: NIC Accession Number 

017699 or 018596). This 32-hour, distance-learning 

satellite/Internet broadcast program explains the skills, 

strategies, and resources necessary to address job 

retention issues and increase employment success 

for individuals with criminal records. Curriculum 

materials are available on CD-ROM. 

Thinking for a Change: An Integrated Approach to 

Changing Offender Behavior (2002: NIC Accession 

Number 018311). This 32-hour broadcast program 

presents an advanced-level course that trains facilitators 

to deliver the Thinking for a Change program to groups 

of offenders. Thinking for a Change integrates cognitive approaches for changing behavior by restructuring 

offenders’ thinking and teaching prosocial cognitive 

skills. 

A Model for Social Justice: Collaboration Between 

Faith-Based and Community Organizations and 

Corrections (2007: NIC Accession Number 022542). 

This 3-hour distance-learning satellite/Internet broadcast program examines the myths, realities, and benefits 

of collaboration between corrections and faith-based 

and community organizations. 

Building Tomorrow’s Workforce: An Effective Reentry 

Strategy (2008: NIC Accession Number 023255). This 

3-hour distance-learning satellite/Internet broadcast 

program includes a diverse panel of corrections and 

workforce development professionals, including correctional administrators, policymakers, employers, 

community agency representatives, and correctional 

industries professionals. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Women and Work: Gender Responsivity and Workforce 

Development (2008: NIC Accession Number 023218). 

This 8-hour distance-learning satellite/Internet broadcast program reviews the policies and practices that 

impact women and their reentry efforts and various 

assessment tools that support employment attainment 

and retention. 

Programs Offered by NIC’s 

E-Learning Center 

The resources listed below can be accessed at 

http://nic.learn.com. 

Workforce Development and Women Offenders (2006: 

NIC Accession Number 022371). This program is for 

service providers interested in workforce development 

issues specific to women offenders. It describes the 

typical characteristics and external barriers that affect 

the employability of women offenders along with effective interventions. This training program is available 

as a CD-ROM through the NIC Information Center 

(800–877–1461; asknicic@nicic.gov). 

Evidence-Based Practices for Supervisors (2008). 

This program is designed for service providers whose 

daily responsibilities require direct interaction with 

offenders and whose agencies have made a commitment 

to implement evidence-based practices (EBP). The program highlights EBP principles as well as the planning, 

implementation, and monitoring of EBP for supervisors. 

Podcast 

George Keiser of NIC Discusses the Relationship 

Between EBP and Employment (2009). This podcast 

provides an overview in lay language of the relationship 

between evidence-based practice (EBP) and employment. The podcast is available at www.nicic.gov/owd. 

T/OWD Website 

The T/OWD website offers a wealth of information 

about NIC’s products, programs, and services developed 

to assist professionals who provide direct services to 

offenders and ex-offenders. The website can be accessed 

at www.nicic.gov/owd. 

References 

Community High School of Vermont. www.chsvt.org/ 

wdp.html, accessed July 1, 2009. 

Costa, Arthur L., and Bena Kallick. 2000. Habits 

of Mind: A Developmental Series. Alexandria, 

VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum 

Development. 

Finn, Peter. 1997. The Orange County, Florida, Jail 

Educational and Vocational Programs. Program Focus. 

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of 

Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. 

Holt, John. 2007. Vermont’s Workforce Development 

Program: Habits of Mind, Employment, Reincarceration 

and Organizational Culture. Shelburne, VT: Correctional Managed Resources, LLC. 

Huff, Mel. 2007. “Inmates Redefine Their Lives 

Through ‘Habits of Mind.’” Rutland Herald (VT), 

March 25. 

Lucenti, Robert, and John Gorczyk. 2005. Workforce 

Development Program, Vermont Department of 

Corrections: Research Demonstration Project Manual. 

Revised draft (January 2007), www.chsvt.org/wpd.html, 

accessed April 6, 2009. 

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Vocational Education & Workforce Development Chief 

Tel.: 802–673–5984 or 802–241–2273 

E-mail: dana.lesperance@ahs.state.vt.us 

Fax: 802–241–2377 

U.S. Department of Justice 

National Institute of Corrections 

Washington, DC 20534 

MEDIA MAIL
 

POSTAGE & FEES PAID
 

U.S. Department of Justice
 

Permit No. G–231
 

Official Business 

Penalty for Private Use $300 

Address Service Requested 

For More Information 

To learn more about creating a workforce development 

culture to reduce recidivism, contact: 

National Institute of Corrections 

Transition and Offender Workforce Development Division 

320 First Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20534 

Francina C. Carter 

Correctional Program Specialist 

Tel.: 800–995–6423 ext. 40117 

202–514–0117 

E-mail: fccarter@bop.gov 

Website: www.nicic.gov/owd 

U.S. Department of Education 

Office of Vocational and Adult Education 

400 Maryland Avenue, SW 

Washington, DC 20202–7240 

John Linton, Director 

Office of Correctional Education 

Tel.: 202–245–6592 

E-mail: john.linton@ed.gov 

Community High School of Vermont 

103 South Main Street 

Waterbury, VT 05676–9506 

Dana Lesperance 

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