The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is seeking applications to develop soft skills training for justice-involved individuals that uses cognitive behavioral interventions in the development and delivery of training scenarios.
Donor Name: National Institute of Corrections (NIC)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $500,000.00
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
Employment is known to be among the leading factors in successfully reducing recidivism among justice-involved individuals, both in the community and carceral settings. Employment directs individuals toward pro-social activities and provides them with the means to support their families, abstain from crime, and contribute economically to their community. Workforce training and certification help individuals gather the knowledge and technical skills they need to become employed. Training in soft skills, like critical thinking, cooperation, empathy, and problem solving, give individuals the competencies they will need to maintain employment after it is secured.
Immersive virtual learning strategies are increasingly being used to teach soft skills. When combined with other teaching methods, immersive learning can improve knowledge retention and give learners a low-risk virtual environment in which to practice real-world skills. Beyond the virtual classroom, which is facilitated through Web-based remote meeting platforms like WebEx and Zoom, there are virtual 2-dimensional (2D) and 3- dimensional (3D) gaming and social environments that encompass the world of virtual and augmented reality. Organizations of many types are using these tools to provide job training for students and new and existing employees. Career resource centers like Goodwill Industries International, whose mission includes helping individuals find and secure employment, are successfully using immersive learning technologies like virtual reality to provide soft skills training to job seekers.
The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) promotes job training for justice-involved individuals through its Workforce Development and Correctional Industries training programs, which are specially designed to meet the training needs of correctional staff. These programs provide practitioners with employment resources and help them successfully apply cognitive behavioral therapies and interventions to various situations with justice-involved individuals. Cognitive behavioral therapies and interventions have been used, for example, to help individuals repair distorted beliefs about the world and learn critical thinking and problem-solving skills. These are the same skills that justice-involved individuals need to help them maintain employment.
To be considered, the successful applicant must:
- Articulate a clear understanding of recidivism and workforce issues affecting justice-involved individuals and why it is important to provide them with training
- Show working knowledge of techniques used to address employment-related issues facing justice-involved individuals.
- Demonstrate 10 years of experience with cognitive behavioral therapies and interventions as used in correctional settings
- Have at least ten (10) years of experience developing corrections-based scenarios
- Provide examples of written communication competency in the form of lesson plans and training scenarios, which may have been delivered in person, through film or television, or through other audio/visual media.
- Provide evidence of a minimum of 10 years of expertise in project management with successful deliverables and completion of projects
- Provide evidence of access to project team members or consultants who have knowledge of immersive learning technologies and development that can be consulted during the course of the project 8. Demonstrate prior experience in curriculum development and learning design that maximize use of immersive learning technologies
Goal
The goal of this cooperative agreement is to create content that will be used to build immersive learning that promotes the use of cognitive behavioral approaches and employment skill-building for justice involved individuals.
Objectives
The objectives of this cooperative agreement are to:
- Research cognitive behavioral therapies and interventions to be used in the development of employment-focused immersive learning for justice-involved individuals
- Develop a research-based employment-focused curriculum with training scenarios that maximize the capabilities of immersive learning, including 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional technologies such as virtual reality
Funding Information
NIC expects to make one award for as much as $500,000.00 for a 12-month project period, beginning on September 1, 2023. Requests for amounts more than a total of $500,000.00, 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.
