Online Training & Best Practices Resources
The new NIC Learn Center https://nicic.gov/ houses hundreds of online courses that can be taken any time, any day of the week. Corrections professionals can watch videos and test their knowledge on important corrections topics, while learning the latest trends and standards in the field.
- Free Registration for Trainings
- The online catalog features interactive web trainings on a variety of topics, including:
- Effective Communication
- Digital Literacy
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility
- Evidence Based Practices
- Case Planning & Supervision
- Performance Management & Succession Planning
- Leadership
- Cognitive Behavioral Programming
- Special Populations & Responsivity
- PREA
- De-Escalation Techniques
NICIC Class Recommendations
- Evidence Based Practices, a 6-Part Learning Plan
Evidence Based Practices, a 6-Part Learning Plan
The purpose for the entire six-part program is to provide front line supervisors and staff with the opportunity to learn the history, advancements and benefits of using evidence-based practices. The program addresses specific skills and correctional practices that, when implemented effectively, can increase positive outcomes with defendants, offenders, and inmates in the areas of pretrial, probation, jail, prison, parole, and re-entry back into the community.
- Justice Involved Women, a 5-Part Learning Plan
Justice Involved Women, a 5-Part Learning Plan
This learning path introduces research and evidence-based practices on the importance of gender-responsivity when supervising women in a correctional setting. After a broad overview, topics are covered in greater depth, including interpersonal violence, trauma, effective case management of women, & organizational resilience.
- Motivational Interviewing (MI): Overview
Motivational Interviewing (MI): Overview
This course provides an overview of Motivational Interviewing (MI). By using specific techniques and applying MI, corrections professionals can help increase offenders’ motivation to make changes in their lives that will reduce their likelihood of reoffending.
- Veteran-Informed Care Training on Responsivity, a 2-Part Learning Plan
Veteran-Informed Care Training on Responsivity, a 2-Part Learning Plan
This learning path focuses on military and veteran culture and veteran mental health issues, veteran case management, and community resources.
- Effective Case Planning and Supervision of Justice-Involved Women, a 2-Part Learning Plan
Effective Case Planning and Supervision of Justice-Involved Women, a 2-Part Learning Plan
This is an interactive, two course series depicting issues and challenges experienced by women in the community, often very different from men. Applying traditional correctional responses and sanctions, without addressing persistent, underlying issues often related to trauma, may move her closer to violation, revocation, and returns to custody. In fact, rates of return to custody for technical violations vs. new offenses for women, often exceeds that of men. Emerging gender-responsive research and practice has identified areas that are either unique to women, may occur with greater duration and frequency, or effect women on supervision differently than men. The goal of this e-learning series is to assist staff in more effectively addressing the level of risk and need presented by women as well as working to identify and incorporate her strengths in the case planning and supervision process.
- Microskills for Community Supervision Professionals
Microskills for Community Supervision Professionals
A series of videos to assist community corrections professionals in developing their personal coaching connection to facilitate behavior change in the people they supervise. The videos cover using engagement strategies, learning about the person, building a success plan, holding people accountable, establishing community connections, and achieving closure.
Learn More About Microskills - Justice Clearinghouse
Justice Clearinghouse
The Justice Clearinghouse helps justice professionals stay on top of the trends, best practices and success stories in the justice and public safety arenas through articles, webinars and training. As a peer-to-peer educational environment, the Justice Clearinghouse offers a year-round “virtual conference” for budget-challenged and time-starved justice professionals to learn from the thought leaders, innovators, researchers, and street-wise, experienced professionals in their fields, without the cost, travel, or time out of the office.
Visit Justice Clearing House- Multidisciplinary content covering topics for all justice professionals, including:
- Special Populations
- Responsivity
- Terrorism
- Animal Welfare
- Leadership
- Cybersecurity
- Domestic/Intimate Partner Violence
- Wellness
- Use of Force
- Free weekly webinars + fee-based online training and webinars accessible at any time
- Certificates of completion available for paid subscribers
- Multidisciplinary content covering topics for all justice professionals, including:
Community Supervision Resources
- Community Supervision Resource Center
Community Supervision Resource Center
The Community Supervision Resource Center (CSRC) is funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and supports research-based and data-driven community supervision approaches that achieve safety, success, and equity for justice-system agencies, the people they serve, and their communities.
- The CSRC collects and shares foundational and current resources about adult community supervision, translates research findings into actionable policies, and provides accessible and responsive training and assistance to justice agencies and community members.
- Self-Assessment Guide for Releasing Authorities to Enhance Community Supervision Practices
Self-Assessment Guide for Releasing Authorities to Enhance Community Supervision Practices
Releasing authorities make critical decisions that impact community supervision agencies and the people they supervise. The CSRC has developed a new self-assessment guide that provides a structured way for releasing authorities to analyze policies and practices related to community supervision, gain insight into how they align with evidence-based and promising practices, and determine where attention should be focused within the parameters of its authority and discretion to improve outcomes for people on community supervision and their communities.
- CSRC Language Guide: Words and Phrases to Effect Positive Change in Community Supervision Agencies
CSRC Language Guide: Words and Phrases to Effect Positive Change in Community Supervision Agencies
As the community supervision field continues to evolve, focus has turned away from managing failure toward promoting success. In doing so, it is important to consider the language that practitioners use in daily operations so that written and verbal communications align with this shift in focus. This guide is designed to assist in the understanding, identification, and use of person-first language, which avoids using labels or adjectives to define someone.
- CSRC Trainings
CSRC Trainings
Current, ongoing, no-cost training opportunities for the field, available live and on-demand. Previous topics have included:
- Wellness & Peer Support
- Equity & Fairness in Assessments
- Responsivity
- Peer Support: CSRC Community
The CSRC Community is a place for those working in the field of community supervision to connect with peers, find answers to questions, and share ideas and experiences.
- American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) National Standards for Community Supervision
American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) National Standards for Community Supervision
These standards were developed in collaboration with national experts and funded by a generous grant from the National Institute of Corrections (NIC). Developing a set of Standards has been one of APPA’s goals for a considerable amount of time. APPA has always played an important role in driving improvements in the community supervision field, and the publication of these Standards as APPA approaches their 50-year anniversary in 2025 makes this accomplishment extra special.
The Standards are meant to promote more positive community supervision outcomes for both individuals under supervision and agency staff/operations. The Standards will help agencies implement evidence-based practices into everyday case management and serve as a resource when agencies are evaluating policies and outcomes.
Learn More About National Standards for Community Supervision
- Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center
Collaborative Comprehensive Case Plans
The CSG Justice Center is a national, non-profit, nonpartisan organization that combines the power of a membership association, serving state officials in all three branches of government, with policy and research expertise to develop strategies that increase public safety and strengthen communities. Utilizing research-driven strategies, the CSG Justice Center intends to break the cycle of incarceration; advance health, opportunity, and equity; and use data to improve safety and justice.
The Criminogenic Risk and Behavioral Health Needs framework, released in 2012, introduced state leaders and policymakers to the concept of prioritizing supervision and treatment resources for people based on their criminogenic risk and needs, as well as their behavioral health needs. Since then, the framework has been used as a foundational tool by federal grantees of the Second Chance Act (SCA) and the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), among others, to reduce people’s risk of recidivism and advance their recovery goals.
Now, even though criminal justice and behavioral health professionals have the tools to identify high-risk and high-needs people in the criminal justice system, many programs still struggle to develop and implement comprehensive case plans that integrate critical behavioral health and criminogenic risk and needs information. This web-based tool can help professionals better understand which people and organizations need to be part of this case plan development and how programs can actively engage the participant in meaningful plans that improve their health outcomes and chances for reentry success.
- 50-State Report on Public Safety
50-State Report on Public Safety
The 50-State Report on Public Safety is a web-based resource that combines data analyses with practical examples to help policymakers craft impactful strategies to address their state’s specific public safety challenges.
The CSG Justice Center analyzed millions of data points and, with support from the Corrections Leaders Association, interviewed corrections staff in all 50 states to collect new data on each state’s research capacity and supervision practices for use in this first-of-its-kind resource.
Some of these strategies include:
- Ensure the effective use of risk and needs assessments through policy design & quality assurance practices
- Improve the effectiveness of supervision to reduce recidivism
- Provide people on supervision with the resources they need to succeed
- Track results through agency capacity, establish responsibility for reporting and monitoring, and educate stakeholders, policymakers, and the public to maintain momentum
- Supervision Violations and Their Impact on Incarceration
Supervision Violations and Their Impact on Incarceration
Since 2018, the CSG Justice Center has analyzed data from corrections departments in all 50 states to better understand the impact of supervision violations on prison populations and the costs associated with it. The third report, Supervision Violations and Their Impact on Incarceration, released in 2024, builds on two previous reports and features national findings and trends, a state dashboard where leaders can view their data individually, and racial disparities analyses by state.
Learn More About Supervision Violations Impact on Incarceration
Evidence Based Strategies
- Videos
- Decision Making Framework
- Policymaking Framework
Policymaking Framework
2014 PEW-MacArthur: Evidence-Based Policymaking: A Guide for Effective Government
Five Key Components:
- Program Assessment Systematically reviewing available evidence on the effectiveness of public programs.
- Budget Development Incorporating evidence of program effectiveness into budget and policy decisions, giving funding priority to programs that deliver a high return on investment of public funds.
- Implementation Oversight Ensuring that programs are effectively delivered and are faithful to their intended design.
- Outcome Monitoring Routinely measuring and reporting outcome data to determine whether interventions are achieving desired results.
- Targeted Evaluation Conducting rigorous evaluations of new and untested programs to ensure that they warrant continued funding.
- Implementation
Implementation
- Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Community Corrections: The Principles of Effective Intervention
- Implementing Evidence-Based Policy and Practice in Community Corrections, 2nd Edition
- A Ten-Step Guide to Transforming Probation Departments to Reduce Recidivism
- Cognitive Behavioral Treatment and Curricula
- Skill Building
- Collaboration Resources
Additional Resources
- The Carey Group
The Carey Group
- 13 Questions to Ask Community Corrections Leaders About Evidence-Based Practice Implementation
- Checklist and Action Plan Worksheet: Building and Sustaining an EBP Organization
- 10 Tips for Effective Interactions with Probation Clients
- Key Tips and Strategies for Justice System Organizational Change
- 8 Core Principles of Evidence-Based Practices
- 5 Essential Elements of Trauma-Informed Care
- 6 Key Factors to Improve Justice Staff Training
- Performance Metrics
- Publications