The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is seeking applications for the planning and facilitation of national focus groups and the development of three curriculum packages for NIC’s Corrections Staffing Initiative.
Donor Name: National Institute of Corrections (NIC)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/24/2023
Size of the Grant: $1,000,000
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is the only federal agency with a legislative mandate (Public Law 93-415) to provide specialized services to corrections from a national perspective. NIC provides direct service as the primary means of carrying out its mission and responds directly to needs identified by practitioners working in state and local adult corrections, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the United States Department of Justice, other federal agencies, and the United States Congress.
Currently, corrections agencies across the country are facing a staffing crisis. The last few years of managing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has required correctional directors of training and directors of human resources to adapt to new methods and techniques to hire, train, and retain staff. “The Great Resignation” represents the mass exodus of the working population that occurred during the pandemic, where a record number of people voluntarily quit their jobs due to high levels of stress and other factors. The corrections field, partly affected by this phenomenon, continues to transform to adapt to this and other evolving trends in populations and management priorities that continuously affect the workforce. Correctional directors of training and directors of human resources represent the agency response to and success in recruitment, hiring, and training. Departments of both training and human resources continually seek to improve the effectiveness of their agency through professional, collaborative, and mission-driven experiences.
Training and human resources staff are key decision makers in corrections. The effect of their decisions can be deep and far reaching. Never before has the need for them to address emerging issues and persistent problems been so essential. Nationally, in a post-COVID-19 era, staff vacancy rates are at an all-time high.
Goals
- Through the activities of this solicitation, the goal of this cooperative agreement is to advance the field of corrections by:
- Adequately evaluating changing workforce dynamics and employment trends, and sharing new approaches to the recruitment, hiring, training, and retention of correctional staff
- Helping corrections incorporate diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible workplace practices
- Supporting corrections in demonstrating a willingness to create meaningful change regarding the practices, norms, and beliefs that have marginalized underrepresented groups within the workplace
- Encouraging implementation of staff wellness for the field of corrections that prioritizes the physical and mental well-being of staff as the corrections environment, personal issues, social issues, emotional issues, and financial issues all take a mental and physical toll on corrections professionals due to the significant health risks and stressors of this career path
- This project will provide a safe environment for stakeholders to candidly discuss challenges and issues affecting correctional agencies by holding nationwide focus groups to identify relevant gaps across the corrections spectrum and determine the strategy for delivering solutions to the target audience. Also, it will determine the best framework/model to be followed and ultimately develop foundation curricula across the corrections spectrum on each of the three principal domains of the CSI
- In addition to developing the strategy and content of the program design, the successful applicant must complete the deliverables identified in the section below during the project period. The program narrative should reflect how the applicant will accomplish these activities.
Objectives
- Hold nationwide focus groups across all disciplines of corrections to determine gaps in staffing across the corrections spectrum, objectives for the resulting curriculum, target audience to receive the curriculum, and strategy for curriculum delivery
- Develop the framework/model to be followed
- Develop foundational curricula across the corrections spectrum on each of the three principal domains of the CSI, which could be delivered via training/technical assistance/policies/publications or other media/e-courses.
Funding Information
NIC expects to make one award for as much as $1,000,000.00 for a 12-month project period, beginning on September 15, 2023. Requests for amounts more than a total of $1,000,000.00 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.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
