Thinking About Corrections

Register Now: Technology Institute for Corrections

Susan Powell — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:16:00 GMT

The National Institute of Justice will be holding their next Technology Institute for Corrections on August 27-29, 2013, in Annapolis, MD. Unlike previous Institutes, the 2013 Technology Institute will have a focus on one issue: Contraband cell phones in correctional facilities.

Overview and Goals:

During the Institute, attendees receive and exchange information about existing and developing technologies, problem solving relating to technology implementation, and technology lessons learned.

The goals of the Institute are to provide:

Participants an opportunity for continuing education on technologies applicable to corrections.

Participants an opportunity to meet and interact with other corrections professionals.

NIJ an opportunity to improve and build on its technology development programs, based on participants’ experience and comments.

Cost and Attendance:

There is no registration cost, and all travel, food and lodging expenses are paid by NIJ.

Attendance is limited to 20 to 25 full-time state and local corrections officials who are actively involved in technology-related corrections issues within their agencies. The applicants should be senior staff who are responsible for making technology decisions and ensuring the implementation of selected technologies, and should be responsible for helping to set the course of future technology implementation within their respective agencies.

Registration deadline: June 30, 2013

For additional resources from NIC - Technology in Corrections

Upcoming PREA Webinars from PRC

S. Cairns — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:13:00 GMT

The National PREA Resource Center (PRC), operated by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency through a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Justice Assistance will be offering several PREA webinars during Spring 2013. Check the the PRC website for the most up-to-date information. All are free to attend. From the PRC Website:

Audit Instrument
The PRC is working with the DOJ to finalize the audit instrument for the PREA Standards for Juvenile Facilities, which will be available sometime early this summer. The audit instruments for PREA Standards for Community Confinement Facilities and Lockups will be in development this summer and available in the fall of 2013.

In June 2013, the PRC will train the first group of auditors to be certified by the DOJ and prepared to audit facilities by the beginning of the first audit cycle: August 20, 2013. Participation in this training is by invitation only; future trainings will be open to all qualified individuals via an application process. Details about the application process and required qualifications will be posted on the PRC website when available.

The PRC will host a webinar to explain the instrument and the auditing process on Thursday, June 13, 2013, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. (EDT). Click here to learn more. Click here to register.

You can find additional information on the auditing process as well as the complete instrument here.

WEBINARS

Crafting Your Program: PREA and Inmate Education in Jails, Part II
Tuesday, May 28, 2013 (1:00–2:30 p.m. EDT)
Click here to learn more. Click here to register.
The National PREA Standards: Implications for Human Resource Practices in Correctional Settings
Thursday, May 30, 2013 (2:00–3:30 p.m. EDT)
Click here to learn more. Click here to register.
Introduction to the PREA Audit Instrument
Thursday, June 13, 2013 (2:00–4:00 p.m. EDT)
Click here to learn more. Click here to register.

Archived Webinars

A complete list of archived webinars can be found here.

For additional resources from NIC – PREA/Offender Sexual Abuse

JusticeHome: Home-Based Alternative Incarceration Program Approved in Brooklyn

Susan Powell — Thu, 09 May 2013 15:15:00 GMT

On May 8, 2013, the Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and the Women’s Prison Association announced the launch of the JusticeHome program. This program is a “home-based alternative to incarceration, for women, particularly those with children” aimed at reducing incarceration costs and recidivism among female offenders. The program is based on the Drew House Model, which was opened in 2008, and has been evaluated by Columbia University as a model that should be “scaled up and replicated” to serve more families.

Find more on this topic at NIC Women Offenders and Women Offender Programs.

NC4YC Webinar: Monitoring Conditions from the Inside and Out: Developing Comprehensive Quality Assurance and External Oversight Systems

S. Cairns — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:00:00 GMT

Join this free webinar, Monitoring Conditions from the Inside and Out: Developing Comprehensive Quality Assurance and External Oversight Systems, hosted by The National Center for Youth in Custody (NC4YC). This webinar will address efforts to improve conditions for youth in confinement. It will cover external oversight and quality assurance methods to help justice agencies identify key areas to reform. It will also include input from youth and families.

Webinar Description:
Efforts to improve conditions of confinement for youth can all too easily collapse under their own weight if meaningful systems of internal quality assurance and continuous improvement systems are not established. Equally important, external oversight can help juvenile justice agencies identify key areas to reform within institutions; the American Bar Association, for example, recently promulgated a resolution calling for the establishment of independent oversight entities for correctional and detention facilities. While many systems struggle to develop methods to track and reform conditions issues, the good news is that several effective internal quality assurance tools and external oversight models exist. This webinar, the fifth in the NC4YC series on improving conditions of confinement, will provide strategies for creating, implementing, and maintaining internal quality assurance and continuous improvement systems and external oversight measures, including efforts that value and incorporate input from youth and families.

Moderator:
Will Harrell, JD, LL.M., Lead Federal Monitor (Ohio), New Orleans Department of Public Safety Ombudsman for the New Orleans Juvenile Detention Center, former Chief Independent Ombudsman for the Texas Youth Commission, JDAI Self-Inspection Team New Orleans, Houston and Harrison County, MS, former prison investigation team member for the United Nations Mission in Guatemala, NC4YC Working Group Member

Panelists:

Dr. Kelly Dedel, Federal Monitor in Ohio, Los Angeles and Mississippi, JDAI Team Leader for Montana, national expert on quality assurance and continuous improvement

Professor Michele Deitch, University of Texas Law School and LBJ School of Public Policy, national expert on independent oversight

Jason Wang, Wang Enterprises, former youth resident and first Youth Ombudsman in the Texas Youth Commission

Shari Wolf, Performance and Quality Administrator, Ohio Department of Youth Services, Performance based-Standards State Coordinator

Date & Time:
Wednesday, May 22, 2013 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM EDT

Resources:
Register here

Find more on this topic at NIC Juvenile Justice Resources.

Register Now: APPA Conference in July

Susan Powell — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:00:00 GMT

From the American Probation and Parole Association:

The American Probation and Parole Association invites you to be a part of the premier Training Institute in the community corrections industry. APPA's 38^th Annual Training Institute will convene in Baltimore, Maryland, July 28-31 at the Hilton Baltimore located at 401 West Pratt Street. The Institute is not to be missed if you are someone who works in the areas of pretrial, probation, parole, juvenile justice, treatment, social work, education or training, victims services, residential programs, judicial systems, pre and post release centers, restitution, law enforcement and public policy development.

Attendees will have the opportunity to select from over 80 accredited workshops, six Intensive Sessions and listen to and be inspired by two dynamic general session speakers. In addition, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in six scheduled networking opportunities in the Resource Expo. By browsing the Resource Expo, attendees will experience first-hand the latest and greatest products in the community corrections industry.

While at APPA, join our National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Specialists at these selected workshops and sessions or at booths 210 and 212:

Dosage Based Probation as an Effective Intervention,
Measuring What Matters: Outcome and Performance Measure for the Pretrial Service Field,
Pretrial and Probation: What is the Same and What is Different in Risk, Supervision and Legal Status – What You Must Know,
Strategies and Skill Sets for Working with Women: Applying a Trauma-Informed Approach.
LGBTI – Having That Difficult Discussion, (backup)
Offender Employment Retention: A Conversation with the Experts. (backup)

Webinar Addresses Effective Connections to Community Treatment

Susan Powell — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 14:14:00 GMT

Join this free webinar, Creating a Strong Foundation for Effective Connections to Community Substance Abuse Treatment, hosted by the National Reentry Resource Center, in partnership with Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities and the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network. This webinar will be the first in a series of five webinars entitled: Best Practices for Engaging and Retaining Formerly Incarcerated Individuals in Community Substance Abuse Treatment. These webinars will provide “best practices for engaging and retaining clients in community substance abuse treatment, including effective transition planning and case management and effective strategies to link to community treatment and to partner with probation and parole”.

Part I: Creating a Strong Foundation for Effective Connections to Community Substance Abuse Treatment

This webinar will discuss how jurisdictions can create strong foundations for effective connections to community treatment through a comprehensive reentry process. The webinar will also address the important role that family involvement and support can play in a recovering persons transition from incarceration to the community.

Presenter:
Phillip Barbour, Master Trainer, Center for Health and Justice at Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities

Moderator:
Kati Guerra, Policy Analyst, Council of State Governments Justice Center

Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Time: 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET

For additional resources from NIC – Reentry and Substance Abuse Treatment

Celebrate National Correctional Officers' Week May 5 - 11, 2013

jgustfsn — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:02:00 GMT

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed Proclamation 5187 creating "National Correctional Officers' Week." The first full week in May has since been recognized as National Correctional Officers' Week to honor the work of correctional officers and correctional personnel nationwide.

In 1996, Congress officially changed the name of the week to National Correctional Officers and Employees Week. The names of 585 correctional officers are engraved on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. These courageous heroes are forever remembered, and their light continues to shine through their memory, and through the selfless men and women who continue to serve each day.

President Reagan's original proclamation

OJJDP/NC4YC Webinar: Family Comes First

S. Cairns — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 19:50:00 GMT

From OJJDP/NC4YC:
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the The National Center for Youth in Custody (NC4YC) will present the Webinar ""Family Comes First: Transforming the Justice System by Partnering with Families".

Date & Time:
Wednesday, May 8, 2013; 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET

Webinar Description:
In recent years, family engagement has come to the forefront of juvenile justice system reform. While much progress has been made, system officials and stakeholders still face challenges building effective partnerships with families. On this webinar, presenters will review a new Campaign for Youth Justice report on a nationwide study of best practices in family-system partnerships, showcase examples from jurisdictions that have been intentional about infusing family voice into their systems, explain five features of a transformed juvenile justice system, and introduce the FAMILY Model, which jurisdictions can use to assess their own systems from a family perspective.

Panelists

Neelum Arya, Assistant Professor of Law, Barry University School of Law
Wendy Luckenbill, Recovery and Resiliency Specialist for Children, Youth, and Their Families, Community Care Behavioral Health Organization
Shaena Fazal, National Policy Director, Youth Advocate Programs, Inc.
Liane Rozzell, Founder and Executive Director, Families & Allies of Virginia’s Youth

Resources:
Registration is available online.

Find more on this topic at NIC Juvenile Justice Resources.

Register Now: ICCA Conference in September

Susan Powell — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:00:00 GMT

The International Community Corrections Association (ICCA) will hold its 2nd annual conference, One Criminal Justice System with Many Decision Makers: Working Toward A Shared Vision, in the “What Matters” series on September 9-12, 2013 in Reno, Nevada.

This conference will provide two tracks: Public Policy and Operational Policy. The public policy track will focus on bodies of knowledge that can inform decisions defining what the system intends to produce and why those measurable outcomes are desired. This broader, public policy speaks to the effectiveness of the criminal justice system. The relevant research informs "release decision making" for pretrial and post adjudication populations. It also informs decisions linking risk of new crime and offender management for plea agreements, orders of the court as-well-as responses to violations of conditions.

The operational track will focus on how current bodies of knowledge and evidence informed practices increase the likelihood of increasing public safety. This track speaks to the effectiveness of linking risk, responsivity, dosage of specific intervention, to case management and effective supervision.

In challenging times, the blending of these two tracks will facilitate and support an effective, collaborative criminal justice system with a shared vision. Both tracks will be designed and applicable to all those interested and invested in “What Matters” in Community Corrections.

Webinar -- Making 'What Works' Work for You: Evidence-Based Components and Adaptation

Susan Powell — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:33:00 GMT

Join this free webinar from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), in collaboration with the National Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center (NJJEC), – Making 'What Works' Work for You: Evidence-Based Components and Adaptation. NJJEC panelists will discuss how to use research-based strategies and techniques in new contexts and how to adapt model programs for local circumstances. This Webinar will help service providers improve current programs and identify research-based practices to address new issues or problems.

Date: April 25, 2013 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. ET

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For additional information from NIC on Evidence-Based Practices and Juveniles

OJJDP Webinar To Address Sexual Abuse of Youth in Detention

S. Cairns — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:37:00 GMT

From OJJDP:
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs in the U.S. Department of Justice. Just Detention International (JDI), with support from the Office on Violence Against Women, will present the Webinar "One in Eight: The Reality of Sexual Abuse in Youth Detention.

Date & Time:
On April 3, 2013, at 2 p.m. ET

Webinar Description:
This Webinar, designed for youth advocates, service providers, and others in the victim services field, will focus on the crisis of sexual abuse of youth in juvenile detention facilities. Presenters will discuss the offenses that most often result in the incarceration of young people, types of juvenile detention facilities, and the Prison Rape Elimination Act, as applied to these facilities. Community advocates and survivors of sexual abuse in detention are featured speakers.

This Webinar is the first in a three-part series on providing services to survivors of sexual abuse in juvenile detention.

Resources:
Registration is available online.

Find more on this topic at NIC Juvenile Justice Resources.

In Memoriam: Tom Clements, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Corrections

Tom Reid — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 15:50:00 GMT

Tom Clements, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections passed away at his home on March 19, 2013.

Director Clements was a well-respected leader in the field of corrections. He served 31 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections in various positions, including chief state supervisor for probation and parole and, most recently, as division director for adult institutions. Mr. Clements became the executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections in January of 2011.

In an e-mail to National Institute of Corrections staff, Acting Director Robert Brown said, “Tom was one of the great leaders of our business and a consummate professional. I hope that each of you in your own way will take a moment today to remember one of our finest leaders who was taken from us much too soon.”

The Colorado Department of Corrections website has posted many tributes and remembrances, including it’s own:

“Tom Clements was a thoughtful and dedicated leader. He was a visionary whose drive and commitment to the Department was contagious. He led the Department with dignity, compassion, integrity and an unyielding sense of team and family. He united the Department with a common mission, a set of values and a vision for the future. Tom empowered the Department to grow and evolve. His strategic, pragmatic approach to positive change has become our way of doing business and in his honor we will persevere.”

A public memorial service was held on March 25, 2013 in Colorado Springs to honor and remember Director Clements.

Director Clements’ obituary

For condolences: ClementsMemorialMessage@state.co.us

OJJDP/NC4YC Webinar: The Impact of Isolation Practices in Confinement Facilities

S. Cairns — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 19:03:00 GMT

From the NC4YC Website:

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in collaboration with the The National Center for Youth in Custody (NC4YC) invites you to a two-part webinar exploring the impact of solitary confinement on youth and efforts to strictly limit isolation in confinement settings: "The Impact of Isolation Practices in Confinement Facilities".

Date & Time:
Wednesday, April 3, 2013, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. ET

Webinar Description:
According to some estimates, more than 200,000 youth under age 18 are held in juvenile residential placement facilities, adult jails and adult prisons across the United States. Many of these facilities employ a range of isolation practices to manage children in their custody. There is a growing body of evidence that isolation is harmful and traumatic for youth and counterproductive in managing behavior, providing services and treatment, and rehabilitating young people. This webinar will explore the impact of these practices, discuss the challenges facility administrators face in addressing the issue, and highlight opportunities for reform. Panelists include advocates, experts, and administrators who have personal and professional experience with the isolation of youth in confinement facilities.

Panelists:

Ian Kysel, Esq., Aryeh Neier Fellow at Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union, and author of "Growing Up Locked Down: Youth in Solitary Confinement in Jails and Prisons across the United States"
Dr. Louis Kraus, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Section Chief, Woman's Board, Rush University Medical Center
Frankie Guzman, Esq., Soros Justice Fellow, National Center for Youth Law
Dr. Mary Livers, Deputy Secretary of the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice
Adult Facility Administrator TBD

Using Social Media for Intelligence and Investigative Activities

jgustfsn — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:32:00 GMT

In partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, the International Association of Chiefs of Police launched the IACTP Center for Social Media in October 2010. The goal of the initiative is to build the capacity of law enforcement to use social media to prevent and solve crimes, strengthen police-community relations, and enhance services. The Center serves as a clearinghouse of information and no-cost resources to help law enforcement personnel create, enhance and maintain a social media presence. Whether your agency has just decided to start using social media, or already has a social media presence and is looking to improve or enhance it, this site covers a range of hot topics and current issues.

A recent addition to the NIC website is our Knowledgebase Collection, which is a compilation of resources around specific topics. When we get questions that we think others might find of interest, we add the answer to this collection. Over 70 topics are listed, and one of the newest entries consists of links to articles, policies, and procedures for the use of social media by correctional agencies.

NIJ Solicitation: Applied Technology Research and Development to Optimize Criminal Justice Use of Social Media in the "Web 3.0" Environment

jgustfsn — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:56:00 GMT

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is seeking applications for applied technology research and development to optimize sanctioned criminal justice agencies’ use of social media in the "Web 3.0" environment. This includes technology for law enforcement, courts, and corrections agencies. This program furthers the Department‘s mission by sponsoring research to provide objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to meet the challenges of crime and justice, particularly at the State and local levels.

Applied Technology Research and Development to Optimize Criminal Justice Use of Social Media in the "Web 3.0" Environment

In general, NIJ is authorized to make grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, States (including territories), units of local government (including federally recognized Indian tribal governments as determined by the Secretary of the Interior), nonprofit and for-profit organizations (including tribal nonprofit and profit organizations), institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education), federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), and certain qualified individuals. For-profit organizations must agree to forgo any profit or management fee. Foreign governments, foreign organizations, and foreign institutions of higher education are not eligible to apply.

NIJ may elect to make awards for applications submitted under this solicitation in future fiscal years, dependent on the merit of the applications and on the availability of appropriations.

Deadline: Applicants must register with Grants.gov prior to submitting an application. (See "How to Apply," page 21.) All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on April 25, 2013 . (See "Deadlines: Registration and Application," page 4.)

Grants.gov number assigned to this announcement: NIJ-2013-3439

Release date: January 25, 2013

SL001053: Download the Full Solicitation