Community Services

Why ACA Mapping Now?

State and local criminal justice systems are poised to change the way they do business. With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), it is now possible for millions of low-income individuals in the criminal justice system to obtain insurance coverage for their physical and

"One form of psychotherapy stands out in the criminal justice system. Cognitive behavioral therapy reduces recidivism in both juveniles and adults. The therapy assumes that most people can become conscious of their own thoughts and behaviors and then make positive changes to them. A person's thoughts are often the result

The goal of this project is two-fold: (1) to encourage criminal justice educators to recognize the importance of developing curriculum specific to community supervision, distinct from institutional corrections, and (2) to provide support to college educators and community corrections practitioners who teach community corrections courses.

Visit NIC's Community Corrections Academic Resources

With the rates of incarceration skyrocketing, the need for effective and more efficient correctional healthcare services has skyrocketed.Many health problems that plague our society plague the corrections industry at an even greater rate; increasing demand for healthcare services for the mentally ill, substance abuse, suicide prevention, and care for the

As indicated by Schmitt & Warner, incarceration may improve an offender’s labor market prospects if the time in prison or jail has a rehabilitative effect and/or leads to the offender receiving additional education or training. In practice, Correctional Industries provides offenders a real-life work experience that helps them develop the

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, and emotional abuse. The frequency and severity of domestic violence

Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils (CJCCs) are how elected and appointed executive-level policymakers in local jurisdictions, and sometimes states, meet collaboratively to address issues facing the justice system and its constituent agencies. The content on this site describes CJCCs, provides specific guidance for their development and operation, and offers tips on

Welcome to the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Portal.

Achieving a work environment that adheres to the principals of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is quickly becoming the number one challenge of most employers both in private and public sectors. With current demographic forecasts predicting that most work teams will

The Employer-Driven Employment Model for Justice-Involved Individuals illustrates four key processes (or sets of steps) that lead to job placement. Using labor market information, you can target justice-involved individuals for high-growth occupations and prepare them for employment in these fields by focusing on employers’ expectations for skilled, productive, and dependable

Evidence-Based Decision Making (EBDM) is a strategic and deliberate method of applying empirical knowledge and research-supported principles to justice system decisions made at the case, agency, and system level. The initiative team developed the EBDM framework, which posits that public safety outcomes will be improved when justice system stakeholders engage

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the objective, balanced, and responsible use of current research and the best available data to guide policy and practice decisions, such that outcomes for consumers are improved. Used originally in the health care and social science fields, evidence-based practice focuses on approaches demonstrated to be effective

What is the GRPPA?

The GRPPA outlines the process of evaluating the gender-responsiveness of policies and programs for women and how to use those outcomes to drive enhancements to women’s programming.

The Gender-Responsive Policy & Practice Assessment (GRPPA) is a process designed to guide assessment of research-based, gender-responsive policies and

Leave No Veteran Behind

Since 9/11, more than 2.5 million Americans have served their country in uniform. Many have had multiple tours overseas; for example, in Iraq for Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn and in Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom. To say our service members have been taxed over

The National Institute of Corrections, in partnership with the Women's Prison Association, has developed The National Directory of Programs for Women with Criminal Justice Involvement. Learn more about the directory through the "Online Resources" sidebar in the right column of this page (second link from the top).

The number of

Why Leadership Development in Corrections?

NIC believes it takes visionary leaders to improve correctional practices and outcomes. We believe leadership development is a process that requires dedicated effort. We believe effective leadership development programs align with agency operational and strategic needs.

To that end, NIC developed Correctional Leadership Competencies for

This webpage has been developed in an effort to provide current and useful information to correctional agencies regarding the safe and respectful management of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons in custody and under supervision. Relying on a best practices approach, this information will enable correctional and supervising

Motivational Interviewing (M.I.) arose during the 1980s from alcohol counseling research. This research began to suggest that certain types of brief counseling interactions could be as effective as more lengthy interventions and that a certain kind of provider style was better at eliciting change.

M.I. is a person-centered communication method

Reentry refers to the transition of offenders from prisons or jails back into the community. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs 641,100 people were released from state and federal prisons in 2015. Another 10.6 million cycle through local jails (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2016).

Given

Parole, both a procedure by which a board administratively releases inmates from prison as well as a provision for post-release supervision, comes from the French word parol, referring to "word," as in giving one's word of honor or promise.

Over time it has come to mean an inmate's promise to

Probation is a prison sentence that is suspended on the condition that the offender follow certain prescribed rules and commit no further crimes. Today, probation is a federal, state, and local activity administered by more than 2,000 separate agencies, with nearly 4 million adult offenders under supervision. (Seiter 2014)

Parole

People with mental health issues increasingly receive care provided by correctional agencies. In 1959, nearly 559,000 patients were housed in state mental hospitals (Lamb, 1998). A shift to "deinstitutionalize" people with mental health issues had, by the late 1990s, dropped the number of persons housed in public psychiatric hospitals to

Victims have statutory rights that begin the moment a crime is committed against them. Ideally, victims would be fully informed of their rights at every step in the process: at the time the crime is reported, during the justice process, while the offender is incarcerated, and when the offender reenters

Pretrial Services programs provide crucial information to judicial officers to assist with the bail decisions and to provide supervision and services to pretrial defendants that will promote public safety and court appearance.

The role of a high functioning pretrial agency can have many positive impacts on local justice systems. By

Redemption
the process of lifting the burden of the prior record. (Blumstein and Nakamura, 2010)

Certificates of Rehabilitation
The Certificate serves as an official document to demonstrate an individual’s rehabilitation, which could result in enhanced employment opportunities.
(also referred to as Restoration of Rights or Certificate of Relief from Disabilities

Resources by topic area for Post-Conviction Victim Service Providers.

For additional information, trainings and materials on the NIC Project go to: Post-Conviction Victim Service Providers.

Resources by topic area for Victim Offender Dialogue. For additional information, trainings and materials for Post Conviction Victim Service Providers go to: Post-Conviction Victim Service Providers.

This collection of resources is intended to provide a broad overview of current research and trends in the management and treatment of sex offenders.

Suicide is a threat to all persons involved in corrections. The rates of inmate suicide are far higher than the national averages, and even higher still for special populations (including juvenile and LGBTI inmates), even corrections officers have a much greater occupational suicide rate. The resources provided will help give