National Institute of Corrections Grant for Enhancing Evidence-Based Practice Resources

The mission of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is to advance public safety by shaping and enhancing correctional policies and practices through leadership, learning, and innovation (https://www.nicic.gov/). One way that NIC pursued its mission was through the publication of a series of documents on the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in the early 2000s. These documents addressed multiple aspects of EBPs and remain relevant and influential today; however, some of the content is outdated and does not embrace the implementation science approaches and other significant research that has emerged since the creation of these documents. In 2020, NIC funded a project to revise, update, and expand four of its EBP documents:

·       Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Community Corrections: The Principles of Effective[KG1] Intervention (2004)

·       Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Community Corrections: Quality Assurance Manual (2005)

·       Implementing Evidence‐Based Policy and Practice in Community Corrections: Second Edition (2008)

·       Putting the Pieces Together: Practical Strategies for Implementing Evidence-Based Practices (2011)

Specific deliverables included adding new information about research on EBPs, incorporating insights from implementation science and the input of practitioners and academics involved with the implementation of EBPs in community supervision agencies. 

For example, suggestions from the practitioners and academics included making the materials responsive to the interests, needs, and concerns of staff with different responsibilities in their organizations and creating tools such as briefs, checklists, videos, and infographics, and capturing practitioners’ experiences in testimonials and “lessons learned.”

The initial work focused on developing a content restructuring plan to guide future content development, resource selection, organization, and delivery with the goal of making the EBP content more accessible, approachable, and actionable. Rather than producing printed documents, the content will be digital and housed on a dedicated microsite on NIC’s website. The microsite will contain content organized according to users’ positions within community supervision organizations and focus on four target audiences: community supervision staff, supervisors, executives, and implementation support staff. The content will focus on the tasks, responsibilities, skills, and competencies that each audience needs to contribute to the successful implementation of EBPs. As of the writing of this solicitation, content development and restructuring for one of the four target audiences (community supervision staff) is complete and will be used to guide the development of the remaining microsite content.

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.

The mission of the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is to advance public safety by shaping and enhancing correctional policies and practices through leadership, learning, and innovation (https://www.nicic.gov/). One way that NIC pursued its mission was through the publication of a series of documents on the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in the early 2000s. These documents addressed multiple aspects of EBPs and remain relevant and influential today; however, some of the content is outdated and does not embrace the implementation science approaches and other significant research that has emerged since the creation of these documents. In 2020, NIC funded a project to revise, update, and expand four of its EBP documents:

·       Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Community Corrections: The Principles of Effective[KG1]  Intervention (2004)

·       Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Community Corrections: Quality Assurance Manual (2005)

·       Implementing Evidence‐Based Policy and Practice in Community Corrections: Second Edition (2008)

·       Putting the Pieces Together: Practical Strategies for Implementing Evidence-Based Practices (2011)

Specific deliverables included adding new information about research on EBPs, incorporating insights from implementation science and the input of practitioners and academics involved with the implementation of EBPs in community supervision agencies. 

For example, suggestions from the practitioners and academics included making the materials responsive to the interests, needs, and concerns of staff with different responsibilities in their organizations and creating tools such as briefs, checklists, videos, and infographics, and capturing practitioners’ experiences in testimonials and “lessons learned.”

The initial work focused on developing a content restructuring plan to guide future content development, resource selection, organization, and delivery with the goal of making the EBP content more accessible, approachable, and actionable. Rather than producing printed documents, the content will be digital and housed on a dedicated microsite on NIC’s website. The microsite will contain content organized according to users’ positions within community supervision organizations and focus on four target audiences: community supervision staff, supervisors, executives, and implementation support staff. The content will focus on the tasks, responsibilities, skills, and competencies that each audience needs to contribute to the successful implementation of EBPs. As of the writing of this solicitation, content development and restructuring for one of the four target audiences (community supervision staff) is complete and will be used to guide the development of the remaining microsite content.