Community Services

Gangs are an ongoing national problem that requires effective management by the public safety community. The research discussed covers various topics related to gangs, including slang used by prison gangs and intervention for gang-affiliated inmates.

NIC believes in developing effective correctional leaders through competency-based training aligned with agency needs. It offers Correctional Leadership Competencies for the 21st Century, which links skills, knowledge, and attributes of effective leaders to specific behaviors.

Correctional administrators need to understand the different paths and levels of risk of women offenders to improve outcomes for them. Technical assistance is available to local jurisdictions to examine and improve their responses to this population.

Probation is a suspended prison sentence for offenders to follow rules, while parole is an administrative release from prison with post-release supervision. The research on this page covers various probation and parole-related topics.

Pretrial Services programs provide information for bail decisions and supervision to promote public safety. By identifying risk factors, judicial officers can balance the presumption of innocence while protecting the community.

Reentry is the transition of offenders from prisons or jails back into the community. Over three-quarters of state offenders are re-arrested within five years of release, highlighting the importance of successful reintegration for improving public safety and policy.

This page provides links to research, case studies, and best practices, demonstrating the value of giving both currently and formerly incarcerated individuals opportunities for rehabilitation through employment. By providing these resources, NIC aims to support communities in creating more inclusive and diverse workplaces while improving public safety.

This webpage provides information on the safe and respectful management of LGBTQI persons in custody, using best practices and considering legal perspectives. Agencies can apply for limited technical assistance to improve their response to managing LGBTQI persons.

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. Public safety outcomes will be improved when stakeholders engage in partnerships, use research, and create better outcomes.

This page focuses on victim services in corrections, reentry, parole, and probation that occur after an offender has been convicted. Many states provide post-conviction victims' rights such as notification, protection, assistance with restitution, and referrals to crime victim services.

NIC provides resources and services for trainers in the correctional system through the Learning and Performance Initiative to help build staff training and development capacity in corrections agencies, with guides and resources available to training directors, coordinators, and others responsible for training.

Parole is the administrative release of inmates from prison and a provision for post-release supervision. It involves a promise to obey the law and follow certain rules in exchange for release. This page provides links to best practices and innovations in the parole field.

This page addresses the unique needs of justice-involved veterans, who suffer from physical and "invisible" wounds of war. NIC first developed "Veterans Treatment Courts: A Second Chance for Vets Who Have Lost Their Way," and established the Justice Involved Veterans Network to improve outcomes for veterans.

This page highlights the need for maintaining safety and security while providing opportunities for staff to not become overwhelmed by both institutional and community settings. "Wellness" emphasizes the importance of taking personal well-being seriously and provides a list of topics and resources to help professionals in the corrections field find balance and stay motivated to perform at their best.

Incarceration may improve employment prospects if it has a rehabilitative effect or includes education and training. Correctional Industries provides real-life work experience, and this initiative helps identify organizational priorities, establish objectives, and provide specialized services and programming to support a return to the labor force.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) enables low-income individuals in the criminal justice system to obtain insurance coverage. NIC's ACA Mapping Initiative maps the decision points across the corrections system to identify opportunities for enhanced enrollment and integration of health care coverage.

Criminal Justice Coordinating Councils allow elected and appointed executive-level policymakers to meet collaboratively to address issues facing the justice system. This page describes CJCCs, provides specific guidance for their development and operation, and offers tips on how to sustain them.

Well-written policies and procedures inform and govern staff behavior, set clear expectations, and support professional behavior. Policies need to have defensible rationale, such as "legitimate correctional outcomes," prevailing standards, or specific case law, and must be officially approved and issued.

Domestic violence involves physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse with the intent to control a partner. The NIC highlights programs to address offender accountability and victim safety in domestic violence cases.

This page includes information and best practices on Redemption & Certificates of Rehabilitation including: Alternative Strategies for Reintegration, Criminal History Records & Employment, In the News, Legislation, Research, Restoration of Voting, Housing, & Pell Grants.

The resources on this page will help give an overview of the problems surrounding correctional suicides and the ways one can implement strategies to turn around the alarming upward trajectory of suicide rates.

The Employer-Driven Employment Toolkit provides effective practices, strategies, tips, and resources for implementing the four key processes. The toolkit emphasizes building relationships between corrections agencies and businesses to ensure successful attachment to the labor market.

The TPC model encourages strategic system changes to reduce recidivism and future victimization, to enhance public safety, and to improve the lives of communities, victims, and offenders. NIC, along with project partners, has implemented the TPC model in eight states.

The GRPPA is a process designed to guide assessment of gender-responsiveness in policies and programs for women in correctional facilities. It includes two sections, and the assessment process requires collaboration among corrections professionals.

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

Employers must create a work environment that values diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) to attract the best employees. The DEIA supports individual and organizational growth by providing resources to examine bias, lead diverse teams, support inclusive teams, and create DEIA programs.

This course will provide you with strategies for communicating respectfully with all offenders, with a specific focus on LGBTI offenders.

This course provides an overview of the important aspects of understanding Justice-Involved Women in correctional settings.

This course will provide you with strategies for communicating effectively and professionally with all youth, with a specific focus on LGBTQI youth.

This six course series provides content knowledge that is required before attending NIC's Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS) training program and serves as a standalone program that provides important foundational and theoretical perspectives of career development.

This is a six-course program for front line supervisors and staff in pretrial, probation, jails, prisons, parole, and re-entry.

This course is an interactive, two course series depicting issues and challenges experienced by women in the community, often very different from men. The second course is designed for correctional staff and related stakeholders who work with justice-involved women.

This course will show how offenders can Transitioning from Prisons to the Community (TPC) Initiative, the TPC approach and model used, how to implement TPC.

This course will focus on women offenders, their characteristics, differences from male offenders, and how you can assess and plan for their career development upon release into the community.

This course will help you conduct an assessment of your unit or department, help you prepare for the future, and help you put together a plan to maximize the learning of your organization.

This course covers the basic information about parole board member duties and activities.