The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is seeking applications for funding under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 for the Thinking For A Change Facilitator Program.
Donor Name: National Institute of Corrections (NIC)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/03/2023
Size of the Grant: $125,000
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
This program furthers NIC’s mission by building capacity of state and local correctional agencies to develop and establish effective inmate cognitive behavioral rehabilitation interventions and strategies.
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 in a traditional face-to-face classroom setting. 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).
The Thinking for a Change Facilitator blended program consists of these four important elements:
- 10 VILT SESSIONS – Attend/participate in ten Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) sessions. VILT sessions are live online training events with instructors. Participants attend via computer/internet and interact with the trainers and other participants. The VILTs for this training are each two hours in duration. An additional .25 hours are allotted for these sessions to allow for early sign-in and for the rare occasions when a session may run a few minutes late.
- PRACTICE LABS – Attend/participate in three practice labs. During labs, participants will take turns practicing running portions of NIC’s T4C Facilitator Training courses as if they were the trainers. These sessions will be facilitated by instructors. Practice Labs are conducted virtually, in the same way as the VILTs. Practice Labs are each two hours in duration.
- INTER‐SESSION WORK (independent study/practice) – Participants are required to complete pre‐session and inter‐session assignments as part of this training. These assignments will include: reading lessons, watching short videos, completing worksheets, communicating with instructors and other participants via email and phone, and preparing to deliver lessons for the face‐to‐face portion of the training event.
- 1 ILT SESSION – Attend/participate in an Instructor Led Training (ILT) experience. ILT sessions are traditional face‐to‐face classroom training events. The ILT for this training is three and one-half days long.
Goals
The goal of this cooperative agreement is to provide consistent training and support to Thinking for a Change facilitators from local, state, and federal and tribal corrections agencies seeking to support and increase the amount of T4C facilitators in their organizations with fidelity by becoming trained as T4C trainers.
Award Conditions
The successful applicant will:
- Articulate a clear understanding of and experience in Thinking for a Change as presented by NIC.
- Demonstrate proven expertise and experience in adult learning and performance, training development, and virtual and classroom-based facilitation.
- Demonstrate substantial capacity to provide Thinking for a Change training (e.g., ensure host agencies are prepared for the Instructor Led Training (ILT) requirements, classes are filled).
- Demonstrate proven experience in the blended delivery model of Thinking for a Change and expertise in adult learning principles, specifically, the T4C training-for-trainers curricula.
- Demonstrate proven experience in developing and conducting impact evaluations.
- Demonstrate proven experience in collecting and analyzing data.
Funding Information
NIC expects to make one award for as much as $125,000 for a 12-month project period, beginning on March 22, 2023. Requests for amounts more than a total of $125,000, including direct and indirect costs will not be considered.
Specific Requirements
Awardee shall actively work with NIC program manager to determine the suitability of program trainers. Final determination rests with NIC program manager. Project Director must:
- Have significant expertise and experience (minimum of 10 years) in project management with successful deliverables and completion of projects
- Have demonstrated experience (minimum of 5 years) working as a Trainer of Trainers (T4T) for a correctional agency or within individual jurisdictions
- Have demonstrated experience (minimum of 5 years) using NIC’s blended T4C model
- Have significant experience (minimum of 3 years) in managing training-based programs and projects with successful deliverables and completion of projects
- Have significant experience (minimum of 5 years) in facilitating Thinking for a Change with corrections clients
- Submit a resume and bio detailing experience and qualifications
T4C Trainers must:
- Have demonstrated experience (minimum of 5 years) in delivering Thinking for a Change (T4C) with offender groups and/or staff
- Have demonstrated experience (minimum of 3 years) working as a Trainer of Trainers (T4T) for a correctional agency nationally or within individual jurisdictions
- Have demonstrated experience (minimum of 3 years) using NIC’s blended learning T4C model
- Have successfully completed a 32-hour T4C facilitator program
- Have successfully completed a T4C T4T facilitator program
- Submit a resume and bio detailing experience and qualifications
- Submit a statement of availability and interest to participate
Eligibility Information
- 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.
