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The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) stands every day with those who staff our nation’s jails, prisons, parole and probation agencies, pre-trial programs, and local community justice councils. During National Correctional Workers Week, we make a special effort to honor the courage, resilience, and integrity of those who protect and serve in corrections.
The South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy recently hosted their Executive Management Course, training designed for current and newly promoted corrections and law enforcement executives from across the state. The program consists of lectures, guest speakers, and small group problem solving. Topics include media relations; departmental staffing and specialization; recruitment and retention; obtaining feedback; leadership at senior levels; and the unique challenges of command staff.
The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) was privileged to provide a brand new training to probation officers from three Texas counties (Denton, Dallas, and Tarrant) on March 19 and 20, 2025. This pilot training was hosted by the Denton County Community Supervision and Corrections Department in their Denton office.
The National Institute of Corrections provided Safety Matters end user training on March 25-27, 2025, to twenty-six Arizona Department of Corrections staff in Goodyear, Arizona. Safety Matters provides staff who work with women with the tools they need to effectively manage women in a custodial setting. The Arizona Department of Corrections sent corrections officers, sergeants, program staff, training personnel and management staff to represent a cross section of the agency’s employees working at their women’s facility.
In Massachusetts, the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office (MSO) and Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian are preparing to launch the Older Adult Reentry (OAR) unit, a specialized housing unit focused on the specific reentry needs of incarcerated individuals over the age of 55.
On October 21-22, 2024, Ronald Taylor, Prisons Division Chief at the National Institute of Corrections, moderated a panel on courageous leadership at the inaugural National Justice Convening hosted by Chicago Beyond. The purpose of the meeting was to examine the Chicago Beyond Holistic Safety Framework and to gather input from criminal justice leaders about the process.
The National Institute of Corrections partnered recently with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction to offer Learning and Performance Coach. This 36-hour blended training targets the importance of building and using effective on-the-job coaching techniques. Throughout the course, participants learn about the new roles that learning and performance coaches are playing in their organizations’ success, and they gain new and updated ideas and skills for facilitating others’ learning.
Many organizations struggle with implementation of evidence-based practices (EBP). Throughout the criminal justice system there are a variety of examples of programs and initiatives that failed because of an inability to implement them successfully. Before organizational change takes hold, organizations must understand the influence that employees and stakeholders will have on the change process.
Earlier this year, National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Prisons Division Chief Ronald Taylor and National Programs Advisor Evelyn Bush met with a Philippine delegation participating in the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program. NIC’s presentation and discussion covered evidence-based policies and best practices for working with women in confinement, reentry planning, and creating a sex-responsive culture for the Philippine correctional system.
The NIC e-course Naloxone Administration was released in spring 2023 and has shown significant gains in awareness about the opioid epidemic among those who take the course. The course has also proven to be a useful tool for outreach about the epidemic as the crisis continues to bare its presence.
From August 7-11, 2023, twenty-three sheriffs from across the country participated in the 120th session of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) National Sheriffs’ Institute (NSI) Leadership Development Course. This year’s session was held at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy in Quantico, Virginia.