Frequently Asked Questions

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 recommends that facilitators complete a Thinking for a Change train the trainer program before they train others. Program fidelity and integrity are critical to T4C program success so it is important that staff are qualified to train other trainers.

The National Institute of Corrections offers Thinking for a Change Training for Trainers to qualified criminal justice professionals or qualifying government contractors. NIC does not offer training to private or non-profit organizations. This year's T4T is a 73-hour blended learning event with 5 weeks of interactive online training culminating with three and half days of on-site training at the National Institute of Corrections - Training Academy in Aurora, CO.

Blended Learning Experience (Online Learning & Face to Face Learning)

• Online Learning: The virtual instructor led training (VILT) sessions will be online twice a week for the first 5 weeks
• Face to Face Learning: The 3 and half day instructor led training (ILT) will be @ National Corrections Academy, Aurora, CO.

Please see the Sample Agenda on the bottom of the page for more detailed information on the training agenda.

*Training is subject to cancellation if funding is unavailable.

Below are the course pre-requisites:

• Applicants must be employed by or contracted with a governmental corrections agency.
• Application requires establishment of teams of at least two eligible candidates (max of 3). NIC will only accept one application per agency.

Each applicant must also provide the following:

• Proof of 32 hours of T4C Facilitator Training
• Verification of delivery of two full rounds of T4C with correctional clients,
• A 5-minute video demonstrating T4C facilitation skills and curriculum knowledge, and
• Approval letter signed by your Agency CEO.

Please note: Thinking for a Change Training for Trainers offered by NIC is at no cost to register. This is a NIC hosted event, therefore NIC will cover the cost for airline travel, and reimburse each participant for all other travel, lodging, and per diem costs. However, participants will be responsible for the costs associated with printing their training manual and intersession assignments. NIC recommends that a minimum of two staff members register from each interested agency.

Please Click Here to add your information to the interest list for Thinking for a Change - Training for Trainers.

Please send questions to DET-NICT4CSupport-S@bop.gov

Thinking for a Change (T4C) Facilitator Training course overview:

This 44-hour virtual training experience will prepare participants to deliver the Thinking for a Change program with offender groups.

The training includes three important elements. Just as with a traditional classroom-based training, 100% attendance at all sessions and completion of all assignments are required to receive a certificate of completion.

The elements of this course are:

• 6 VILT SESSIONS – Attend/participate in six Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) sessions. VILT sessions are live online training events with instructors. Participants attend via computer/internet and interact with the trainers and other participants. The VILTs for this training are each two hours in duration. An additional .25 hours are allotted for these sessions to allow for early sign-in and for the rare occasions when a session may run a few minutes late. 13.5 HOURS
• INTER-SESSION WORK (independent study/practice) – Participants are required to complete all the pre-session and inter-session assignments as part of this training. These assignments will include: reading lessons, watching short videos, completing worksheets, and communicating with trainers and other participants via email and phone. Participants will prepare to deliver three lessons during the face-to-face portion of the training event. Participants must be provided time during normal duty hours to complete this work. Inter-session work averages about two hours per week. 10.5 HOUR
• 10 VF2F SESSIONS – Attend/participate in a Virtual Face-to-Face (VF2F) experience. VF2F sessions are conducted through the use of video/webcams. The VF2F for this training consist of 10 sessions conducted in five days over the course of two weeks. Each day will have a morning session and an afternoon session, and each session is two hours long. 20 HOURS

2022 Training Offerings

•  

  Virtual T4C Facilitator Training #1 (22A6502 - T4C: Aurora, CO)

  The six virtual instructor led training (VILT) sessions will be on Tuesdays from 10:00 am to 12:15 pm (Mountain Time):

  • September 20, 27
  • October 04, 11, 18, 25

  The five day (20 hour) virtual face-to-face (VF2F) with morning sessions from 9:00 am - 11:00 am MT and afternoon sessions from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm MT:

  • Monday, October 31
  • Wednesday, November 02
  • Friday, November 04
  • Monday, November 07
  • Wednesday, November 09

  Please note: Thinking for a Change Facilitator training offered by NIC is no cost to register. However, participants will be responsible for the costs associated with printing their training manual and intersession assignments. NIC recommends that two staff members register from each interested agency. Applicants from governmental corrections agencies will be given top priority in the selection process.

  Registration for this event is now closed

•  

  Virtual T4C Facilitator Training #2 (22A6503 - T4C: Aurora, CO)

  The six virtual instructor led training (VILT) sessions will be on Thursdays from 10:00 am to 12:15 pm (Eastern Time):

  • September 22, 29
  • October 06, 13, 20, 27

  The five day (20 hour) virtual face-to-face (VF2F) with morning sessions from 9:00 am - 11:00 am ET and afternoon sessions from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm ET:

  • Tuesday, November 01
  • Thursday, November 03
  • Friday, November 04
  • Tuesday, November 08
  • Thursday, November 10

  Please note: Thinking for a Change Facilitator training offered by NIC is no cost to register. However, participants will be responsible for the costs associated with printing their training manual and intersession assignments. NIC recommends that two staff members register from each interested agency. Applicants from governmental corrections agencies will be given top priority in the selection process.

  Registration for this event is now closed

NIC offers the Thinking for a Change Facilitator Training to correctional agencies in a 44-hour blended learning experience. The program is provided in partnership with a corrections agency. The program includes:

• 6 Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) sessions
• Inter-Session Work (independent study/practice).
• 1 Instructor Led Training (ILT) program.

Typically, all event and activities are scheduled within a seven week timeframe. This allows participants to complete inter-session work between the VILTs and the ILT. The ILT portion of the training is conducted onsite at the corrections agency site. 

There are no fees charged for NIC's Thinking For A Change Facilitator Training. However, when attending a Host Site sponsored event all travel, lodging, and per diem costs will be the responsibility of the participant’s agency. In addition, participants will be responsible for the costs associated with printing their training manual and intersession assignments. NIC recommends that two staff members register from each interested agency.

NIC only provides the facilitator training to governmental correctional agencies and is not able to include non-profit or private agencies or citizens in its training programs. However, if you work for a private provider of services to a government corrections organization (a jail, a prison or a community corrections organization (probation or parole agency), you may be eligible.

Your agency can request Thinking For A Change Facilitator Training from NIC directly, with a letter included from the agency CEO of the government corrections agency that your agency is statutorily required to provide services to and/or contractually provides services to, endorsing your private provider of service organization request to NIC. This letter must accompany the request to NIC.

If you have completed a formal Thinking for A Change facilitator training program from NIC, you can use the updated 4.0 curriculum without further training. There is no requirement for facilitators to take an additional course to use the updated version.

Yes, program fidelity and integrity are critical to program success so it is important to follow the curriculum as designed. Following are some best practice recommendations:

• Use two trained facilitators,
• Deliver two sessions each week,
• Target the right clients, these are medium- to high-risk offenders,
• Ensure that each client in the group has the opportunity to try every skill during the class,
• Ensure that clients complete the intersession homework
• Make sure all clients receive feedback.

It is also important that the program be completed from beginning to end due to the integrated nature of the program.

Thinking for a Change is copyrighted by its authors Jack Bush, PhD, Barry Glick, PhD, and Juliana Taymans, PhD, with certain rights retained by NIC.

The National Institute of Corrections reserves the right to reproduce, publish, translate, or otherwise use, and to authorize others to publish and use all or part of the copyrighted material contained in this publication for any federal government purposes. Parties other than NIC are not authorized to sell or use these copyrighted materials for commercial gain except with the explicit permission of the authors. 

For more information, see NIC's Copyright page at https://nicic.gov/copyright.

No, NIC does not currently offer a Certified Facilitator Credential.

The NIC Information Center is a resource for those working in the field of corrections, and the assistance it provides (searching the library, locating resources, and providing referrals) is available at no cost.

The Information Center is not staffed to provide legal advice, directly assist offenders/ex-offenders, or friends and family of offenders. Only limited support is available for students, educators, and consultants.

In many cases, copies of the material can be sent or loaned to you. In other cases, we can send you copies of relevant portions of materials.

There is no charge for having the NIC Information Center provide these materials, but there are some limitations on the quantity of hard copy materials that individuals or agencies can request at a single time. Our staff can provide specific information for you if you have questions about this policy.

Most questions are answered within one business day, but we work hard to make sure that we answer all questions within 5 business days or less.

In most cases, material is sent via US Postal mail and you should see it within 7-10 days. International and priority shipments will vary in shipping time. Items on backorder will be shipped as they become available.

Note: With our migration to a primarily digital catalogue, we have removed the Add to Cart button for any product that has been converted to a digital form (PDF, streaming audio or video). Only products that have not yet been converted are available for order. You can order physical NIC products by creating an account on our website and placing items in your cart.

NIC has been building out a library of our publications. You can install the free Libby app to borrow and enjoy digital titles from our library on your tablet or smart phone. Visit your device’s app store or app.overdrive.com to get started. OverDrive is also available via all web browsers on devices, including computers (Windows and Mac).

Find and save our library’s OverDrive collection in the app. If accessing our collection via a web browser, visit our digital collection URL: https://nic.overdrive.com

Browse the collections or search for your next great read. Borrow or place a hold on a title. You’ll need an account on the NIC website to complete this step.

Borrowed titles will appear on your Loans page on the library’s OverDrive website.

From here, you can:

• Download titles to the Bookshelf in the Libby app to read anytime anywhere.
• Read or Listen to some titles directly in your web browser without downloading.
• Borrowed titles will automatically return at the end of the lending period.
• You may also return titles early to free up space in your library account.

Yes, CWT can assist you with car rental and hotel reservations. If a credit card is required for the reservation, you will have to provide one to the agent. NIC does not pay these costs up front.

The voucher form covers your fees for preparation, travel, on site work, and report writing in addition to miscellaneous expenses, such as phone, secretarial duties, printing, and postage/shipping. 

The travel and per diem claim form covers any travel-related expense, such as baggage fees, parking, tolls, hotel, car rental, taxi or shuttle service, and gas. 

If you have expenses other than these please contact the NIC staff person who is authorizing your travel.

If you want to change your travel arrangements to something other than those originally authorized, you must receive authorization from NIC. If the change is for personal travel, NIC is not permitted to authorize the changes (per federal travel regulations). You will need to make those changes directly with the airline once the tickets are issued. You are responsible for any costs related to the change.

Completed and signed travel forms, along with any documentation, must be emailed to NICTravel@bop.gov

Mail completed fee vouchers to the NIC office that coordinated with you for the work: 

• NIC Academy Division,
  11900 E. Cornell Ave., Unit C,
  Aurora, CO 80014
   
• NIC Prisons, Jails, Community Services, Research & Information Services, or Administration Divisions, 
  320 First St. NW, Room 5002
  Washington, DC 20534

The forms are available for download and duplication from our TRP Resources page.

Our current travel contractor is Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT). Listen carefully to the prompts. Press #1 for new reservations; press #1 again for NIC, which will allow you to speak with a travel agent.. You must have the program number ready to provide the travel agent. If CWT hasn’t received the authorization to book your flight, you may not be able make your reservation. Their phone number is 1-866-530-0062.

Contact the NIC staff person who is authorizing your travel if you have any questions.