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Message from the Director
Looking Ahead
As the acting director of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), I am committed to ensuring that the high level of quality training, technical assistance, and information services that you have come to expect from this agency continues for many years. Former Director Thigpen was an icon to the field, and we will all reflect positively upon his leadership and contributions. Looking ahead, there are myriad challenges and opportunities before us. In that regard, we hope to continue to respond effectively to meet your needs, and we will continue to call on you to better understand the issues you face.
Not the least of these challenges and opportunities is your engagement with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). This year 2013 marks the 10-year anniversary of the signing of the initial PREA legislation. It is also the landmark year where, for the first time, agencies will receive compliancy audits on their adherence to the PREA standards released in 2012. As always, we’ll continue to provide you with timely, relevant information and PREA-related training, but we also hope that you will engage with us, making use of the corrections forums and the contemporary information-sharing capabilities that are available to us, whether by e-mail, phone, or other method.
NIC is also working to meet the needs of even more of our corrections colleagues by launching a new online training area exclusively for frontline staff. Called the Frontline Learning Center, it’s the place where correctional officers and the entire workforce of professionals who work each day directly with offenders can experience online NIC training for free.
Looking ahead, there are even more opportunities before us as we meet and overcome the challenges head on. Thank you for your support of NIC. I hope you can join us for the many opportunities ahead.
Robert M. Brown, Jr.
Acting Director
Study Shows Offender Workforce Development Significantly Reduces Recidivism and
Supports Employment Retention Followup
Offender Workforce Development (OWD) engages corrections staff in preparing reentering offenders for gainful career employment, development, and retention. According to a recent study, the Offender Workforce Development Program, as conducted by the Kansas Department of Corrections, has had a positive, statistically significant effect on short-term reentry outcomes for offenders.
Researchers from Southern Illinois University measured the recidivism outcomes of 122 offenders who participated in the Kansas OWD program and compared them with 5,969 offenders who were not part of the program. The researchers sought to evaluate the effectiveness of OWD and the interventions of trained OWD specialists on recidivism and offender employment outcomes. They also asked whether receiving increased levels of OWD programming had any significant effect.
When evaluating the outcomes of moderate- and high-risk offenders, the research showed that both groups benefited from their participation in the OWD program. After the first year, rates of recidivism were down for both groups. By the second year, high-risk offenders showed the need for continued interventions.
With regard to wages, offenders who participated in the OWD program were reported to be earning higher salaries in the first quarter following release than those who did not.
Employment retention services, such as the Offender Employment Retention (OER) Program, another evidence-based NIC initiative, was suggested as a means both for supporting offender employment and promoting better wage outcomes for offenders in the long term. OER prepares corrections staff to teach reentering offenders the higher-level job skills that can lead to longer lasting employment.
Study results were published in Federal Probation: A Journal of Correctional Philosophy and Practice in the article titled “Offender Workforce Development Specialists and Their Impact on the Post-Release Outcomes of Ex-Offenders.”
Part of the NIC Employment Specialist Series, OWD and OER specialist training are available exclusively for corrections professionals. The series also includes Offender Employment Specialist (OES) training, the foundational course for beginning to learn how to help offenders not only find jobs but secure careers. OES training is available to everyone.
For more information about the Employment Specialist Series and other NIC training, please visit www.nicic.gov/training.
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What To Do About PREA (article excerpt)
By Connie Clem, Principal of Clem Information Strategies
In late summer 2013, correctional agencies will experience the first audits on their compliance with the new Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) standards released by the U.S. Attorney General in August 2012. The PREA Standards are intended to provide guidance to correctional agencies for managing facilities that are safer and free from sexual coercion and harassment. Over the upcoming 3 years, each adult correctional facility and each residential facility for juvenile offenders can expect to undergo its first audit. Audits will be repeated on a 3-year cycle.
This article suggests ways correctional agencies can make progress toward PREA compliance fairly simply and inexpensively. The approaches described have been shared at meetings of NIC's Large Jail Network (LJN), where participants have been discussing PREA issues and implementation since the PREA law was passed in 1996*.
Specific how-to suggestions cover these areas:
- Creating culture change and promoting a zero-tolerance standard
- Following high-quality professional practice
- Establishing a coordinated agency approach
- Preventing incidents and coercion
- Responding to alleged incidents
The article first appeared in the November-December 2012 issue of American Jails magazine (Volume 26, no. 5, pp. 8-14) and is featured here courtesy of the American Jail Association.
*The Prison Rape Elimination Act was signed on September 4, 2003.
Read the full article.
PREA E-Toolkits
Now available are PREA e-toolkits, resources for jails and juvenile facilities. The toolkits provide step-by-step guidance for:
- Preventing, detecting, and eliminating the sexual abuse of inmates and residents in custody.
- Responding effectively to abuse when it does occur.
A distinct feature of the PREA e-toolkits is the set of self-assessment checklists that automatically develop action plans based on users’ responses. These action plans can be used by PREA Coordinators and Compliance Managers to organize their implementation efforts according to their agency's priorities and resources. Agencies can periodically review the checklists and action plans to ensure their implementation efforts are on track and on course when needed.
The e-toolkits also include links to relevant websites, guides, reports, and training materials that will assist agencies in PREA implementation.
You may access the toolkits anytime from NIC website. No registration is required. Please also note that due to the size of the toolkit file, download times may vary.
Jails Toolkit: http://nicic.gov/Library/026880
Juvenile Toolkit: http://nicic.gov/Library/026881
New Community Forum for Human Resource Administrators
One of NIC’s goals is to provide correctional agencies with the continuing support they need to navigate the growing legal and personnel challenges they face. By establishing a new community forum especially for human resource administrators, NIC has created an opportunity for these professionals to network nationally with their peers.
In September 2012, a highly committed focus group of human resource professionals in corrections met to discuss some the pertinent needs that corrections human resources staff have faced in recent times. The next step was to provide the entire field with a dedicated for place to sharing and exchanging ideas, inquiries, and issues. Through the forum, solutions or ideas that have worked for others become just a peer away.
Forum participants will engage in exchanging information on labor trends and strategies that focus on:
- Implementing state and federal mandates
- Optimizing and developing the workforce
- Share pertinent information and resources on developing issues, i.e., transgender staff and accommodations
Current challenges identified by the working group include:
- Advancing staff development and position competencies
- Succession and reduction planning due to budget cuts
- Unprecedented turnover of senior staff
- Social networks and the media
- Labor challenges, including unions, staff training, FLSA, FMLA, ADA, PREA, EEOC, gender specific posts, privatization, and contract monitoring
All directors and administrators of agency human resource offices are invited to join and must be added to the forum by NIC Correctional Program Specialist Evelyn Bush by sending her an email at e1bush@bop.gov. Requests must be received by February 28, 2013.
New E-Course Training Open to Frontline Staff
Providing corrections professionals with expert training and information is at the core of NIC’s mission. Traditionally targeted toward supervisory and management staff, NIC training today now offers select e-courses appropriate for those who hold positions on the frontline, including:
- Correctional officers
- Detention officers
- Probation and Parole officers
- Reentry specialists
- Correctional health professionals
- Other correctional line staff
Referred to as the Frontline Learning Center, this new online training environment offers the same benefits and flexibility as the original NIC Learning Center and PREA Learning Center that past participants in NIC training have received for years. Now, eligible frontline staff can also have access to quality online corrections training at no cost by visiting nic.learn.com/frontline and creating an account.
Over 90 courses are currently available. Course titles include Interpersonal Communication Skills with Correctional Offenders, Objective Jail Classification: Assessing Inmate Risk and Needs, Jail Data Analysis, and Your Role: Responding to Sexual Abuse.
You can read more about Frontline in the National Jail Exchange. NIC Management and Program Analyst Scott Weygandt writes about the features of the Frontline Learning Center, its popular courses, new courses, and developments for the future.
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