You can always expect the unexpected. But there’s more you can do to be proactive about preparing to respond to emergencies when they arise. In a presentation offered during the American Correctional Association Winter Conference 2025, the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) will outline specific steps that you can take to shield yourself against crisis through training, the development of a critical incident response team (CIRT), and participation in NIC’s Critical Incident Response and Assistance Program.
By attending the NIC session titled Critical Incident Response and Assistance Program, you will learn how effective leadership and hard-to-control factors, such as staffing, facility design, and budgets can influence your ability to respond to a crisis successfully. You will get a better understanding of the critical value that preparation, planning, and response can afford you. The session will end by highlighting a new NIC initiative that provides customized, no-cost support to prison, jail, and community supervision agencies experiencing a critical incident or undergoing a significant operational disruption.
Session Learning Objectives
- Examine existing agency challenges, such as critically low staffing levels, reduced operating budgets, outdated facility design and poor maintenance, increased mental health and substance use needs, and gaps in medical staffing, that position organizations to be at risk for various critical incidents.
- Promote agency preparedness and leadership during times of crisis response.
- Examine critical incident response options and protocols focused on supporting agency success and organizational wellness.
- Define the scope of NIC’s Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) and Assistance Program.
- Identify the mechanisms for requesting CIRT support and be able to detail the services that are offered through the program, including post-response analysis and ongoing support resources.
For more information about CIRT, click the link to learn more about the conference.
Location: Room W230 C
Learn more about the Conference