I'm Looking for Technical Assistance for My Agency

NIC provides all its services free of charge. However, it is expected that the requesting agency provide access to staff, data, and anything else that will help us help you.

The CEO of your agency. For example, the Director of Corrections, the Sheriff, or County Administrator must sign the Request Assistance Affirmation Letter.

NIC is not a funding agency. We do not provide you with a grant to purchase equipment or procure training. NIC does not provide funds directly to an agency. When we provide assistance, we fund the cost of consultants' travel and time.

Both NIC and the agency representative who requested the technical assistance will receive a copy of the technical assistance report. The agency is free to distribute the report. 

Upon delivery of the final Technical Assistance report to the agency that requested the assistance, the report becomes the property of that agency. The National Institute of Corrections will not distribute the report to non-NIC entities, or consider it an agency record under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), without the express, written approval of the agency.

Learn More: For more information about the Freedom of Information Act, visit https://www.bop.gov/foia/#tabs-0

No, NIC cannot provide such services. These studies are very lengthy and complicated, and we do not have the resources to do them.

What NIC can do is assist your agency in building the capacity to conduct these analyses, on its own, through training and materials available through the NIC Information Center. We can also help you understand how to get funding to support these initiatives.

No, NIC cannot provide funding for keynote speakers at a conference. However, NIC can provide training at a conference, providing it meets our initiatives.

No, NIC does not certify jails, even with a court order. NIC is not an investigatory or regulatory agency. NIC’s interest is in determining how best you can provide detention services in your community in a manner that is safe for inmates, staff and the public.

Does the National Institute of Corrections certify jails?

No, the National Institute of Corrections does not certify jails because it isn't a regulatory agency nor is it investigatory agency. NIC does help jails improve their training, processes, and procedures to better serve their incarcerated individuals, staff, and community.

Technical assistance or TA is a term used in education, government, and industry to mean “consultation.” NIC TA is short-term, no-cost help for agencies on a variety of issues.

NIC provides corrections agencies with a wide range of TA services including responding to critical incidents, assisting in problem-solving, as well as strategic or long-range planning, policy development, system mapping and other issues and topics.

Typically, an NIC TA engagement is a tailored response to a specific, limited need of a single requesting corrections agency. While some types of non-standard training may be delivered through TA, NIC’s training programs comprise standardized curricula that address a range of core correctional issues and are responsive to a range of corrections training needs.

Any local, state, federal, or tribal corrections agency is eligible to receive TA services from NIC.

Due to budget and staffing limitations, NIC cannot fulfill all the requests for TA it receives. However, NIC will review each TA request and will provide a response to the requesting agency. In cases where the request cannot be met, NIC strives to provide information about alternate resources that may be useful to the requestor.

NIC’s TA services are paid for through funds provided to the agency by Congress to support the work of the agency. Typically, the requesting agency will be expected to provide meeting space, or other relevant information, and necessary access to facilities or agency staff.

NIC’s TA application form and other paperwork to initiate a TA engagement will stipulate all the conditions regarding receiving TA services from NIC. For example, the expectations for the TA regarding when it will start, how long it will last, the level of agency support expected from the requestor, what services NIC will provide, and how the TA engagement will conclude may be included along with other information. Typically, the requesting agency is expected to complete a detailed assessment (and, in some cases, a follow up assessment) to discern the effect of the TA services.

TA services can begin almost immediately depending on the services sought, the availability of NIC resources, the availability of the agency, and the urgency of the requestor’s need. In most cases, TA services begin within a few months of the request.

Occasionally, NIC begins a TA engagement with an agency only to discover that, due to changing circumstances, the services requested are not as originally planned. NIC maintains a flexible stance and a willingness to adjust each TA engagement to ensure that services provided meet the actual needs of the requesting agency and that NIC’s limited resources are used efficiently and effectively.

Yes. Because NIC is committed to delivering TA that is tailored to your agency, we understand that there are times when you may need help with more than one issue. However, remember that each request is reviewed on its own merit and that your agency should be able to demonstrate its capacity to engage in multiple projects at the same time.

Yes. However, NIC is committed to ensuring that any TA you receive will help build capacity in your agency. As with any other request, NIC will carefully review your information to determine the level of need and what our response will be.