NIC’s newest e-course is the Thinking For A Change (T4C) Familiarization course. This course informs individuals about T4C and creates interest in the program among qualified criminal justice professionals who may potentially serve as facilitators and trainers for the program in the future. The e-course offers a glimpse into the program by sharing some of its proven cognitive and program-based practices. Enroll in the e-course by logging onto the NIC Learn Center and finding it in the Corrections Topics category in the catalog.

Veterans are not characteristically criminals prior to military service. Nevertheless, because of what they have seen and done in the military, it can lead some to involvement in the criminal justice system. Veterans can often have a unique set of circumstances and underlying issues that criminal justice professionals are frequently ill-equipped to deal with unless they receive additional training and education.

The Veteran-Informed Care Training on Responsivity (VICTOR) courses are a two-part series focusing on responsivity issues related to working with justice-involved veterans. The target audience for the training is criminal justice practitioners such as judges, attorneys, case managers, corrections and law enforcement staff, clerks, and more who interact with veterans. The audience may also include practitioners who work on a veteran’s treatment court (VTC) team and those who work with the non-treatment court population. The objective of these courses is to give participants a basic understanding of the needs of veterans involved in the criminal justice system and to explore how criminogenic and influential risk factors among justice-involved veterans can be identified through screening and assessment tools.

Part 1 of the VICTOR courses focuses on military and veteran culture and veteran mental health issues. Part 2 in the VICTOR courses focuses on case management and veteran resources. These courses are valuable education on the road to improving veteran care within the justice system. Enroll in the VICTOR e-courses by logging onto the NIC Learn Center and finding them in the Corrections Topics category in the catalog.

Management Development for the Future (MDF) is NIC’s dynamic, agency-exclusive experience that targets development of the middle management tier of a correctional organization. It simultaneously engages all levels of an agency’s leadership through internal action-based learning at the individual, team, and agency levels. It consists of a series of courses conducted over one year and is provided to participants within selected agencies.

MDF is a “blended” individual and organizational development series that includes one 3-day on-site classroom session and two multi-session virtual instructor-led sessions or “phases” spread out over the series. The series also includes independent e-learning courses, an online 360-degree feedback leadership assessment, individual reading assignments, individual developmental coaching sessions, and the development of personal leadership development plans. By the end of the course, participants will prepare a dynamic leadership plan and undertake action-based learning projects focused on issues relevant to their agencies. Participants apply the skills and strategies they learned in the program to build organizational capacity and manage organizational change within their own agency.

Please see NIC’s Correctional Leadership Competencies for the 21st Century: Manager and Supervisor Levels (https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.nicic.gov/Library/020475.pdf, pages 15-19) for sample job and responsibility areas that are appropriate for the MDF series. Check out the MDF series page for information on the agency application process, readiness for development, scheduling, and other MDF-specific details at https://nicic.gov/management-development-future-mdf-series.

Beginning November 2023, NIC will host a monthly, 30-minute Academy Chat to facilitate dialogue and continuous learning among training professionals and others who are interested in improving the training options at their agencies.

Hosted by the NIC Academy Division, the chats will be conducted in an online open format that allows participants to pose questions both to the hosts and other attendees about current and emergent topics in training that are relevant to local, state, tribal, federal, adult, and juvenile correctional fields. Staff can hone soft skills, like empathy and verbal communication, as they engage in peer-based learning with colleagues from around the country. The chats are open to staff from all agencies and all positions, allowing any corrections personnel with an interest in training the opportunity to attend.

Subscribe to NIC News and Announcements to receive notifications about the Academy Chat.

On August 10, 2023, Dr. Emily Salisbury and NIC staff Belinda Stewart and Katie Reick collaborated on a presentation at the American Correctional Association’s Congress of Correction.  This presentation touched on the gender responsive work that NIC has sponsored and why gender matters when working with women involved in the criminal justice system.  This presentation led to a dynamic discussion with participants about their work with women in the criminal justice system and the needs they see.

From August 7-11, 2023, twenty-three sheriffs from across the country participated in the 120th session of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) National Sheriffs’ Institute (NSI) Leadership Development Course. This year’s session was held at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

This program, provided by NIC in collaboration with the Major County Sheriffs of America, prepares first-term sheriffs for success by strengthening their leadership skills. It is the only executive leadership institute specifically designed for sheriffs. The NSI provides training on effective leadership within the sheriff’s office, the local criminal justice system, and the surrounding community and prepares sheriffs for all matters affecting the office of the sheriff. 

In addition to the Leadership Development Course, the NSI currently consists of a Jail Administration Course, which is open to all sheriffs regardless of their term. The course enhances sheriffs’ knowledge of their responsibilities in leading and supporting the staff and operations of a correctional facility. 

A third NSI course focused on executive leadership in communications will be developed in fiscal year 2024 and made available to the nation’s sheriffs in fiscal year 2025. 

For more information, visit https://info.nicic.gov/nsi/

E-Courses from the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) are an online, self-paced alternative to traditional classroom instruction. Like all NIC training, NIC e-courses are free, and they are open to all staff affiliated with a correctional organization. There is no limit to the number of courses an organization can take. So, when the District of Connecticut U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services needed additional training and leadership resources, they reached out to NIC for assistance.

NIC created a specialized learning center in its online learning management system especially for Connecticut. The center was populated with courses chosen by Connecticut staff based on their anticipated learning and leadership needs and the results of an NIC needs assessment. The district had volunteered to be the test district for a new Federal Judicial Center, and the courses would help supervisors and frontline staff prepare for their new roles. Each course targeted specific competencies that the Federal Judicial Center had identified as important.

Since partnering with NIC, Connecticut has made annual completion of the e-courses a requirement for some staff. A District of Connecticut representative says the courses have become their “online ‘go-to’ for professional growth and continued learning.” 

Representatives from federal, state, local, and tribal correctional agencies are encouraged to reach out to NIC with requests for training.

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) recently launched the Corrections Staffing Resource Center, a webpage with information dedicated to helping correctional agencies meet their staffing needs. Part of NIC’s Corrections Staffing Initiative, the resources address three primary trends to meet the challenges of the nation’s correctional facilities: (1) Recruitment, hiring, and retention of qualified staff, (2) Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and (3) Staff wellness. The center links to articles, e-courses, e-books, and NIC training and resources that have been organized to make them more readily available to use.

Emboldened by the “great resignation” strengthened by the COVID-19 pandemic, many highly skilled workers in a variety fields in corrections left their former jobs for new positions. Higher salaries are expected to incentivize some new staff, but not every agency can afford to boost pay, and it’s only one feature of job satisfaction for many candidates.

NIC’s selected resources help agencies focus on attributes of great places to work that go beyond pay. They address the features and benefits that today’s employees are looking for, like improved work conditions, access to training, good communication, and quality of management and leadership.

In the future, additional resources will include collaborations with hiring professionals, both in the corrections field and private sector, to offer hiring managers the most up-to-date resources to make informed staffing decisions.

Each year the United States Department of Agriculture leads Feds Feed Families, an annual government-wide food drive that encourages federal employees to donate food, services, and time to local food banks and pantries. While having reliable access to food is a year-round issue for many families, summertime can be the most critical as donations to food banks and pantries typically decline. Unfortunately, it is just as donations are dwindling that the need for food bank services increases. Many children who depend on government subsidized school meals frequently go hungry when schools close. Feds Feeds Families helps fill the gap during the summer and at other crucial times throughout the year.

This year in August the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) and the Bureau of Prisons at the National Corrections Academy in Aurora, Colorado, collected and distributed 1,200 pounds of food and $500 in cash to a local food bank.

“Yearly we reach out to serval food banks and local services to identify a need and then we donate,” says Michael Ward, Instructional Systems Specialist of Educational Development at NIC and local Feds Feed Families chair. “We typically do not donate to the same bank unless that bank has requested the need. This helps to spread the community involvement.”

NIC and BOP have donated an average of 700 to 1000 pounds of food plus cash each year for the past four years. This year, NIC is on track to exceed that average by 20-30%.

“It feels good to be part of a solution,” Ward says. “It feels good to give, and to see it take place locally. Giving is a heartfelt message expressed by federal employees through this program, and it is an honor and a privilege…to be part of it.”