Message from the Director
Service

Not too long ago, Attorney General Eric Holder spoke before attendees at the annual conference of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Service. In his speech, he noted that “we should examine the potential advantages of incorporating more civilian personnel and volunteers into law enforcement activities.” I agree with his statement, and I believe we can do the same in corrections.

All across the country, states and jurisdictions are reducing personnel and corrections budgets. Yet while these budgets are being reduced, the costs of running a facility, the costs of implementing high quality programming, and the costs of managing staff hardly ever go down. They either continue to remain the same or rise. Yet regardless of the budget available, corrections will continue to be legally responsible for providing adequate levels of service and ensuring that the task of rehabilitating offenders has been fulfilled. To succeed, we must remain open to new ideas, a few old tricks, and plenty of cost saving measures that may require lots of vision and courage to implement.

With this month’s newsletter, I hope you will find a few ideas that may help you cut costs as well as inspire to you to continue the work of corrections despite the challenges and roadblocks you’ll face. NIC is proud to acknowledge the service of those who have contributed to the field and we welcome you to be a force of change and make your own contributions as well.

Morris Thigpen, Director

NIC Mourns Passing of Allen F. Breed, 3rd NIC Director
Former NIC Director Allen F. Breed passed away on July 23, 2011. He was 90 years old. Breed dedicated his life to criminal justice a held a passion for corrections. Prior to his appointment as director of NIC, Breed was a staunch advocate for juvenile justice, being a vocal supporter of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act of 1974. As director at NIC from 1977 to 1983, Breed oversaw the formation of the NIC Academy Division. Debate over the Academy lasted several years and won final approval in 1981 when the division was formed. It is also the same year when Breed oversaw the creation of the NIC Community Services Division, formerly titled the Community Corrections Division.

During his tenure at NIC, Breed also focused national attention on the disproportionate incarceration of people of color in prisons and jails. He was also a pioneer supporter of the federal Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), which ensures today the protection of rights of individuals incarcerated, in pretrial detention facilities, nursing homes, or under similar residential care.

Diane Williams Named "Champion of Change"
NIC Advisory Board Chairman Diane Williams was named a “Champion of Change” by the Obama administration last month. Williams’ receipt of the honor hails her work as president and CEO of the Safer Foundation, an Illinois-based organization whose mission is providing reentering offenders with services and support, such as employment, education, and housing assistance, that will help them restart their lives and reduce recidivism.

In a three-year study, researchers from Loyola University found that reentering offenders under the Safer Foundation programs had a 34% lower rate of recidivism than other reentering offenders in Illinois who did not participate in the program. In a statement for the White House, Williams noted that the Safer Foundation helped over 3800 people become employed. “In an economy like we face,” Williams said, “…that’s not a decent thing to do, but we believe it’s a necessary thing to do.”

Williams has served as member of the NIC advisory board since 2005.

Emergency Preparedness and Response
September 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the Attica prison riot of 1971 in New York, where over three dozen people involved in the incident were killed. The month also marks the 10-year anniversary of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that have raised heighted awareness of the importance of national security efforts both on U.S. soil and abroad.

Both of these monumental events have had a dramatic impact on corrections. Most notably, the Attica riot was instrumental in identifying the need to establish the National Institute of Corrections. But the prison riot and events of September 11th together underscore the continued need for emergency preparedness in prisons, jails, and even community corrections. Having crisis intervention systems in place is the best way to quickly deescalate and, if possible, deter riot and other emergency situations from ever happening.  

NIC provides training and has volumes of information available for agencies looking to establish or improve an emergency response system. Select items include:

--A Guide to Preparing for and Responding to Jail Emergencies
--A Guide to Preparing for and Responding to Prison Emergencies
--CIT: Crisis Intervention Team: Learn the Memphis Model from Those Who Helped Develop It

Calling All Corrections Partners: NIC Wants YOU
Sponsor One of NIC's Courses in Your Facility

NIC provides training in a number of corrections disciplines. All at no cost. Opportunities are available for agencies to host these trainings in their facility. As a host agency, your primary role would be to provide training space and the audiovisual equipment for the training rooms as necessary. Participants will be required to provide their own food, lodging, and transportation. All corrections partners, including corrections training academies, colleges and universities, departments of corrections, and sheriff’s departments, are encouraged to apply. NIC is looking for host sites all over the country.

Courses still available include Conducting Security Audits, Prison Emergency Preparedness, and Management Development for the Future, among others. For Jail Resource Management, contact Erika McDuffe. For all others, visit us online at http://nicic.gov/Partnership.

Volunteer Services Programs Save Dollars and Enrich Lives
Volunteer services have long been part of the history of NIC. Back in 1979, NIC awarded a second-year grant to the National Information Center on Volunteerism to provide materials to the field about correctional volunteer programs. Today, while the National Information Center on Volunteerism is no longer in operation, NIC continues to champion and encourage volunteering in corrections. For example, with the Offender Employment Specialist training program, individuals from all fields—whether faith-based, educational, or otherwise—who work directly with offenders to help them find and maintain employment can use the self-paced training to both develop and enhance offender employment programs.

States around the country rely on their volunteer programs to fill the gap where local budgets fall short. Volunteer staff play roles in reentry services as well as other programming that departments of corrections may not otherwise be able to afford. Massachusetts is one example of a state with a notable record of performance and outcomes. It is estimated that in 2010, the Massachusetts Department of Correction Volunteer Services program saved the state over $3.1M. Their core programs include:

• Alternatives to Violence: Teaches offenders conflict resolution and nonviolent alternatives.
• Jericho Circle Project: Addresses offenders’ criminogenic risk factors.
• Toastmasters: Builds effective communications skills.

The financial benefit of volunteer programs is not the only incentive for implementing these programs, however. There is also the intrinsic benefit that offenders, corrections staff, and volunteers feel when they volunteer. Survey results from the MA DOC 2009 Volunteer Survey captured these revealing comments:

• I find the [Alternatives to Violence] program very rewarding. The inmates are polite and grateful for our time.
• Volunteering at MCI Concord has been one of my most gratifying, intellectually rewarding, and exciting experiences. The program director and staff are always cooperative, and the men are appreciative and usually wholly engaged.
• I have a great love for volunteering at MCI-Framingham. The [women] are so wonderful and appreciative of our coming, and the staff often thanks us for what we do.

Learn more about the MA Volunteer Services program on YouTube and view the MA DOC program description booklet on the MA DOC website.

To request a copy of NIC’s Offender Employment Specialist training program or learn more NIC’s Employment Specialist Series, visit us online.

New Publication Provides Probation Guidance for Tribal Personnel
In Indian Country, the approach to criminal justice is one that relies heavily on rehabilitating offenders while preserving family networks and community ties. Yet, with 565 federally recognized tribal jurisdictions in the United States, only a portion report using probation—a community-based alternative to incarceration—as an option. Of those jurisdictions that do use probation, the implementation of their probation programs varies broadly. The reasons for this are vast, but the basic principles of effective probation programs remain the same and can be applied to the probation efforts of tribal jurisdictions.

To help, the Bureau of Justice Assistance has released A Desktop Guide for Tribal and Probation Personnel: The Screening and Assessment Process. The guide uses research summarized by the National Institute of Corrections and Crime and Justice Institute to outline the core considerations that tribal probation officers should consider as they handle their cases.

In This Issue
Message from the Director

NIC Mourns Passing of Allen F. Breed, 3rd NIC Director

Diane Williams Named "Champion of Change"

Emergency Preparedness and Response

Calling All Corrections Partners: NIC Wants YOU

Volunteer Services Programs Save Dollars and Enrich Lives

New Publication Provides Probation Guidance for Tribal Personnel

Upcoming Events
Crisis Intervention Team International Conference

Held in Virginia Beach, VA, this year, the Crisis Intervention Team International Conference addresses issues around best practices and performance of CITs. Session topics are scheduled to include discussions involving motivational interviewing, post-traumatic stress syndrome, and first aid.

Visit the conference website for more information.

September 12-14, 2011
Virginia Beach, Virginia

National Conference on Adult and Juvenile Female Offenders

Join the Association of Programs for Female Offenders and the State of Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services for the 14th National Conference on Adult and Juvenile Female Offenders. The event is an opportunity to network with others who work with justice-involved women and girls and address the challenges facing this subpopulation. Attendees will be exposed to new gender-informed practices and receive  updates on research in this developing field.

This year NIC is sponsoring a workshop that describes the implementation of the Women Offender Case Management Model in the Larimar County Community Corrections system and its progress. NIC will also provide updates in a number of panel sessions on its involvement with the National Resource Center for Justice-Involved Women, a BJA-funded project.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff will be the conference keynote speaker and Dr. Stephanie Covington, LCSW, will headline the plenary session.

Find the conference on Facebook.

October 15-19
Salt Lake City Utah

New Publications
WOMEN AND TRAUMA
Report of the Federal Partners Committee on Women and Trauma: A Federal Intergovernmental Partnership on Mental Health Transformation

The report highlights roundtable discussion by the Federal Partners Committee on Women and Trauma. It provides background on the issues surrounding women and trauma and outlines next steps for the Committee in the coming year. The next scheduled roundtable is for December 6-7, 2011. Visit NIC online to download a copy of the report.

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