The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is seeking applications for funding under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 for the Restrictive Housing Populations Training Program to build the capacity of federal, state, local, and tribal correctional agencies to develop, establish, and enhance restrictive housing operations and programs.
Donor Name: National Institute of Corrections (NIC)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/07/2023
Size of the Grant: $400,000.00
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
This National Institute of Corrections (NIC) program will fund training and technical assistance to federal, state, local, and tribal correctional agencies that will build their capacity to develop, enhance, and maintain restrictive housing programs that support safe, humane conditions that prepare people who are incarcerated for reintegration into both the general population and society at large.
NIC’s training approach will address the most challenging questions facing correctional officials: What is the best way for correctional agencies to manage their most violent and disruptive incarcerated population ? How can they best protect the most vulnerable and victimized among them? And what is the safest and most humane way to do so? Additionally, people incarcerated with serious mental illness (SMI) and are violent or disruptive pose a special challenge to correctional agencies nationwide. Their behavior often requires their removal from the general population, and yet traditional forms of restrictive housing present many challenges. NIC’s restrictive housing training focuses on best practices around identification, placement, and management of the entire incarcerated population, including those with SMI.
This program will enhance and expand restrictive housing training for federal, state, local, and tribal correctional agencies. Since the safety of incarcerated people, staff, the public, and the orderly operation of correctional agencies is critical for successful outcomes, the need for significant training to support restrictive housing reform continues to exist.
Through this cooperative agreement, NIC seeks to expand its delivery of restrictive housing training by providing a virtual instructor-led training (VILT) opportunity based on the instructor-led training (ILT) of NIC’s Managing Restrictive Housing Populations training program. This program is designed to be delivered to multiple teams of state and local agencies over several weeks. Each of the following topics will be covered in one 2-hour VILT session: Organization Readiness for Change, Preventing Placement in Restrictive Housing, Reducing Length of Stay in Restrictive Housing, and Inmate Behavior Change. In addition to these four sessions an additional final session will provide each agency with an opportunity to present their implementation plan to other participants and the instructor team. VILT sessions will be spaced a week or two apart with intersession work required by each participating agency team.
Goals
The goal of this program is to safely reduce restrictive housing populations by providing training to federal, state, local, and tribal correctional agencies concerning best and promising restrictive housing practices.
Objectives
The following are the primary objectives of this project:
- Update and revise existing Managing Restrictive Housing Populations ILT and VILT curricula for jails and prisons and develop adjunct and support content and material as needed.
- Provide ILT and VILT restrictive housing training to federal, state, local, and tribal correctional agencies.
Specific Requirements
- ILT and VILT training programs require three instructors – two correctional practitioners and one behavioral health expert. The awardee must actively work with NIC program managers to determine the suitability of correctional practitioners and behavioral health experts. Final determination rests with NIC program managers.
- Correctional practitioners must:
- Have specific knowledge and experience in due process regarding the assignment of incarcerated people to restrictive housing, legal issues involving restrictive housing, restrictive housing management strategies, use of alternative sanctions, prison culture and climate, classification, and staffing of restrictive housing units.
- Have attained an executive-level position (e.g. warden, superintendent, jail administrator, sheriff, etc.) in a federal, state, tribal, or local facility that housed incarcerated people assigned to restrictive housing.
- Have experience in facilitating executive-level meetings and/or adult instructional learning.
- Have experience working in an agency’s central office and/or experience working with other agencies/entities on the development of appropriate restrictive housing policies and procedures.
- Behavioral health experts must:
- Have specific knowledge and experience in treatment programs designed for people assigned to restrictive housing, reentry issues for people with mental health issues in restrictive housing, legal issues surrounding restrictive housing and people with mental health issues, management of incarcerated people with mental health issues, use of alternative sanctions for people with mental health issues, mental health assessments, and the improvement of patient outcomes.
- Have a minimum of five years of experience.
- Be a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist.
- Have experience in facilitating executive-level meetings and/or adult instructional learning.
- Have experience working with other agencies/entities on the development of appropriate restrictive housing policies and procedures.
- Final determination of the project team, subject matter experts (SMEs), and instructors rests with NIC program managers.
- The awardee is responsible for all team member expenses and fees.
- Travel on weekend days (Saturday and/or Sunday) will be required if necessary due to the program training schedule, based on the needs and availability of the host agencies and availability of the restrictive housing team.
- The awardee shall provide instructor, participant, and associated materials at all training events – print for ILT must and electronic for VILT trainings.
- The awardee must, throughout the duration of the award period, maintain regular, routine contact with NIC program managers regarding programmatic and deliverable progress. This includes, but is not limited to:
- At a minimum, schedule and conduct monthly telephone updates, providing NIC program managers with information about deliverable status, challenges, areas where assistance is required, etc.
- Quarterly progress reports are required; adhering to the written requirements and prescribed schedule outlined in the award documents.
- The awardee must provide appropriate documentation of meeting (e.g. planning sessions, team meetings, etc.) outcomes to NIC program managers.
Funding Information
NIC expects to make one award for as much as $400,000.00 for a 12-month project period, beginning within August 14, 2023. Requests for amounts more than a total of $400,000.00, 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.
