Thinking for a Change (T4C) is an integrated cognitive behavioral change program incorporates research from cognitive restructuring theory, social skills development, and the learning and use of problem-solving skills.
Donor Name: National Institute of Corrections
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/14/2023
Size of the Grant: $300,000
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
T4C comprises 25 lessons that build upon each other and contains appendices that can be used to craft an aftercare program to meet the ongoing cognitive behavioral needs of a group. Not all lessons can be completed in one session, so a typical delivery cycle may take 30 sessions. Sessions should last between one and two hours. Ideally, the curriculum is delivered twice per week, with a minimum recommended dosage of once per week and a maximum recommended dosage of three times per week. Participants must be granted time to complete mandatory homework between each lesson.
The program is designed to be used with justice-involved adults and youth, males and females. It is intended for groups of eight to twelve and should be delivered only by trained facilitators. Due to its integrated structure, T4C is a closed group program, meaning members must start at the beginning of a cycle and may not join the group mid-stream (lesson five is a logical cut-off point for new group members).
Goals
The scope of work for this initiative will be to:
- Revise and update the English T4C 4.0 curriculum to an English T4C 5.0 curriculum.
- From the newly revised English T4C 5.0 curriculum, create/develop a Spanish T4C 5.0 curriculum. The curriculum packages (English and Spanish) will provide trained Thinking for a Change facilitators the opportunity to acquire knowledge, skills, and guidance that are vital to delivering the Thinking for a Change program to justice-involved individuals.
- Develop a Thinking for a Change Virtual (T4C-V) English 5.0 program using best practices for virtual delivery and facilitation and new technology to provide correctional agencies with innovative ways to deliver T4C-V and provide justice-involved individuals newer, efficient methods of participating in T4C.
- Using the newly designed T4C-V English 5.0 program, create/develop a Thinking for a Change Virtual (T4C-V) Spanish program.
Objectives
The tasks to be performed under this cooperative agreement will include the following:
- Using the ITIP model, create and deliver a design document addressing the revision of the Thinking for a Change curriculum that will include a narrative description of the T4C 5.0 curriculum, its purpose, targeted population, learning objectives, curriculum framework, and a process for ensuring the curriculum’s consistency and fidelity as it is used with various facilitators.
- Using the current Thinking for a Change 4.0 curriculum as the framework, develop a new 5.0 curriculum package that will be delivered both in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting and in a virtual setting. The curriculum will include a facilitator manual, participant supplemental manual/materials, presentation lesson slides, videos, and any other auxiliary materials needed to deliver the curriculum.
- Develop a pre-/post-test (English) for T4C group participants based on the information provided during the program in an effort to quantify the knowledge attained in the T4C program. The instrument must be in a file that is compatible with electronic delivery and report generation.
- Develop a T4C quality assurance/fidelity evaluation form in both digital and hard copy formats for evaluating T4C facilitators. The form should identify facilitators’ level of mastery of facilitation skills, ability to adhere to T4C program integrity, and need for continued support and coaching. The evaluation form should consist of a scoring rubric that reduces bias and allows for fair and equitable evaluation from all quality assurance observers/scorers involved in the program. The awardee must use an approach founded on evidenced-based practices (EBP).
- Create/develop new T4C 5.0 curriculum packages (face-to-face and virtual) in English and Spanish. This will result in English T4C 5.0, Spanish T4C 5.0, English T4C-V 5.0, and Spanish T4C-V 5.0.
- Develop the Spanish version pre-/post-test for T4C group participants.
- Develop a T4C quality assurance/fidelity evaluation form in Spanish in both digital and hard copy\ format for evaluating T4C facilitators.
- Create a work group of 6-10 subject-matter experts (SMEs) who are either trained in T4C as T4C trainers with a minimum of 5 years of experience of training correctional practitioners to facilitate T4C, and/or current T4C facilitators with a minimum of 3 years of experience of facilitating the T4C 4.0 curriculum to justice-involved individuals to provide guidance, revision assistance, and consultation to the project.
Funding Information
- NIC expects to make one award for as much as $300,000.00 for a 12-month project period, beginning on
- March 31, 2023. Requests for amounts more than a total of $300,000.00, including direct and indirect costs will not be considered.
Eligibility Criteria
- NIC invites applications from nonprofit organizations (including faith-based, community, and tribal organizations), for-profit organizations (including tribal for-profit organizations), and institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education). Recipients, including for-profit organizations, must agree to waive any profit or fee for services. Foreign governments, international organizations, and non-governmental international organizations/institutions are not eligible to apply.
- Proof of 501(c) (3) status as determined by the Internal Revenue Service or an authorizing tribal resolution is required.
- NIC welcomes applications that involve two or more entities; however, one eligible entity must be the applicant and the others must be proposed as subrecipients. The applicant must be the entity with primary responsibility for administering the funding and managing the entire program. Only one (1) application will be accepted from a submitting organization.
- NIC 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.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
