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Recent recidivism studies by the AOUSC, USSC, and BJS have brought attention to the importance of understanding the scope of reoffending in the federal probation and pre -trial services system. These studies have also brought to light how difficult it is to compare recidivism rates across agencies. Even when using similar data, discrepancies can exist based on definitional and methodological differences.
Length of Incarceration and Recidivism
At the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) 2023 National Research Conference, Sanchez led a discussion on corrections research that looked beyond preventing recidivism to explore evidence-based ways of improving individual experiences and institutional culture within prisons and jails.
The ongoing work of community supervision is dynamic based on the trends and changes occurring in the world we live in. Adjusting to an ever-changing political climate and other factors beyond our control makes the sharing of information and communications more important now than ever before. The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) has served as a resource for many years through training, information sharing, and networks available to the field. NIC is committed to providing assistance to all community supervision agencies no matter the size.
Community supervision agencies must rely on the most recent evidence-based programs, promising practices, and emerging approaches to further their work. NIC is invested in promoting equally important topic areas that target human-resource-related technical skills and staff training, hiring requirements and practices, equipment for officers, and topic areas supported by research and evaluation. Topics covered range from current practice methods to new and innovative approaches.
As such, NIC has created a new site that covers topic areas such as technology and equipment, interpersonal skills, research and resources, staff, and supervision models for the community supervision field. Please visit https://info.nicic.gov/acss to access these resources and learn more.
On February 6, 2024, staff of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) participated in the initial training for Safety Matters: Managing Relationships in Women’s Facilities. CDCR, the National Institute of Corrections, and Bauman Consulting met for several months planning this training event. The event took place at the Central California Women’s Facility.
The second part of the training will take place from April 2nd – April 4th, where CDCR staff will participate in a train-the-trainer event to ensure sustainability within their agency.
The goals of the Safety Matters: Managing Relationships in Women’s Facilities curriculum are to assist corrections leadership and practitioners in building upon foundational training in gender-responsive practice, motivational interviewing skills, and Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) knowledge to support safety in women’s facilities.
On February 3, 2024, National Institute of Corrections (NIC) Director (A) Holly Busby addressed the Jails, Detention, and Corrections Committee of the National Sheriffs’ Association at their Winter Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. Busby expressed her gratitude to the committee for their commitment to fostering safe, secure, and humane environments for staff, residents, clients, visitors, and the public through responsive programs and services.
During her remarks, Busby made several announcements, including the historic achievement of NIC at having reached a milestone in providing 50 years of training, assistance, and information to the field of corrections. She also reiterated NIC’s commitment and involvement in the administration of the U.S. Department of Justice Jail and Justice Support Center and discussed other new NIC initiatives, such as the Critical Incident Response and Assistance Program, and provided statistical information in support of the National Sheriff’s Institute since its move to the FBI academy in October 2022.
In conclusion, Busby announced that the NIC Jails Division hopes to be able to add 4 new staff members in the near future, enabling NIC to do more for the nation’s jails.
As a general rule, overrides on specific questions should occur only when information in the official record contradicts the system-involved person’s stated response to the question. They should not be the result of the interviewer’s perception of the issue in question. Within the interview guide, items which may be overridden are noted on the assessment with an asterisk (*) next to the question number. These are the only items which may be overridden in the scale.
The WRNA Interview + Survey should be updated annually with clients or in the case of a significant event (i.e., a new offense, relapse, change in case manager, assault, etc.).
For the WRNA, it is generally recommended that case planning takes place with individuals who score moderate risk or higher. Individuals who score low risk on the WRNA may not have needs that necessitate case planning and doing too much with these individuals may backfire.
The WRNA was developed through federal monies, and are in the public-domain, distributed with no charge. The copyrights for the assessments are held by the University of Cincinnati and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.