About This Guide

About This Guide web_admin Fri, 12/17/2021 - 13:05

The Journey Begins

It is recommended that a Correctional Industries program begin this process by conducting a strategic analysis to determine the current state of the overall program. To determine the future direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand the current position so the plan will be based on current and relevant information.

To gather more information, conduct an in-depth review of the mission, vision, core values, resources, stakeholder and customer support, strategic alliances and collaborations, defining legislation and other internal /external factors directly related to the Correctional Industries program. Review the 10 key components of the Reentry-Focused Performance Excellence Guide and choose 2 – 3 areas where development and/or further refinement would enhance operations. Ultimately the goal would be to incorporate all 10 best practice components into the daily operation of a Correctional Industries program.

Each best practice component provides the definition, rationale, benefits, and practices to assist teams in getting started. There are also recommended metrics to measure your success, further resources to review and information on other Correctional Industries who have implemented the best practice component successfully.

Systems Thinking and Focus

The Reentry-Focused Performance Excellence Guide was developed using a systems approach to achieve the following:

Reduce Recidivism
Increase Public Safety
Improve Offender Success
Ensure Sustainability
Enhance Operations

Each component is intended to positively affect at least one area noted above with most components influencing multiple areas. Using target outcomes which include program relevance, financial sustainability, maximizing participation, increased employment and job retention of former offenders after release, collaboration within the communities, etc., the effects of full model implementation are substantial.

Effective implementation of the model will also:

Guide the vision and develop leadership to sustain an organizational culture of offender success which will support setting expectations, engaging stakeholders and empowering staff
Apply consistent best practices that can be managed and measured to improve outcomes throughout all Correctional Industries
Establish a collaborative structure with Corrections and the Community
Provide justification for expanding programs and seeking additional resources or legislation necessary to implement the best practices within an organization

Why Should a Correctional Industries Program use this Model?

"A leader takes people where they want to go.
A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be."

Rosalynn Carter

In Your Organization

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, with no job, no money, and no place to live, former offenders often find themselves facing the same pressures and temptations that landed them in prison in the first place. Assisting recently released offenders in finding and keeping employment, identifying transitional housing, and receiving mentoring are three key elements of successful reentry into our communities.

The most recent studies disclose the following alarming statistics:

1 in every 100 people in the U.S. is incarcerated in prison or jail.
1 in every 32 people in the U.S. is under correctional supervision whether it is incarceration, probation or parole.
1 in every 48 working age men (18-64) is incarcerated in prison or jail.
United States is #1 in the world at incarceration rate.
$32,000 is the annual national average cost to incarcerate one individual in federal prison.
50% is the national average three year recidivism rate.

Throughout the components statistical information is provided indicating offenders assigned to Correctional Industries programs have a significantly lower return rate to prison. With the increasing cost of incarceration nationwide and the high recidivism rate, Correctional Industries has the opportunity to significantly assist its correctional system in making a positive impact on its Reentry initiatives.

The model is established to focus on all areas necessary to both prepare offenders to gain and retain employment after release as well as maintain the program’s financial self-sufficiency and sustainability.

Nationwide

The Reentry-Focused Performance Excellence Guide offers the following benefits across the country:

It will help direct and improve organizational focus and performance results through strategic planning and measurable results.
It will ensure the relevancy of each Correctional Industries program as it significantly impacts the correctional system’s reentry efforts.
It will facilitate communication and sharing of best practices among all U.S. and International Correctional Industries organizations.
It will serve as a working tool for understanding and managing organizational performance which will be continually updated as new information and trends emerge.
It will serve as a tool to guide both the NCIA and an individual organization to provide ongoing opportunities for learning.

Components at a Glance

Incorporate Strategic Planning – Strategic Planning is the cornerstone of implementing and sustaining reentry-focused performance excellence. It is the process of defining your organization’s direction and making decision in support of that strategy.
Maintain Financial Sustainability – Self-sufficiency and sustainability are essential to meet current and future obligations ensuring the long-term viability of a Correctional Industries program.
Recruit, Develop and Retain Staff – It is important to recruit individuals capable of performing the job today with the capacity to grow to meet the future needs of the organization. Staff as technical experts, work coaches and mentors are critical to the overall success of a Correctional Industries program.
Engage Stakeholders – Correctional industries operate within three spheres of influence: Government, Business and Societal. It is important to understand stakeholder requirements and the impact of each one, as well as their relationship to each other.
Replicate Private Industry Environment – The more Correctional Industries utilize the same processes, controls, equipment and procedures as private industry, the better prepared the offender will be to find employment and successfully transition to the private sector.
Implement Certificate Based Soft Skills Training – A certificate based training process creates standards and structure for soft skills attainment. These skills, reinforced through the Correctional Industries environment can significantly improve offender behavior while incarcerated and promote successful reentry.
Provide Certified Technical Skills Training – Certifications earned through technical skills training are a reliable predictor of workplace success and are essential to gainful attachment to the workforce upon release.
Maximize Offender Job Opportunities – Providing the greatest number of job opportunities for the offender population is critical to the overall impact that Correctional Industries has on reentry and recidivism.
Create a Culture of Offender Employment Readiness and Retention – Creating a culture focused on offender reentry success through employment readiness leads to employability and job retention after release.
Provide Post Release Employment Services – Post-release employment services support gainful attachment to the workforce. Continued engagement after job placement promotes retention, re-employment in the event of job loss, and assists with advancement opportunities.

Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms web_admin Fri, 12/17/2021 - 13:12

Antisocial: Hostile or harmful to organized society; being or marked by behavior deviating sharply from the social norm
Apprenticeship: An On-the-Job training program supported by either the federal or state Department of Labor. Apprenticeship programs usually define both classroom requirements and technical competencies required to obtain the journeyman level. Apprenticeships are highly recognizable and portable in the labor market.
Best Practice: A practice that can be measured and has proven results
Barriers to Success: Barriers ex-offenders face when seeking employment. Barriers may include societal stigmas, former offender attitudes, legal barriers, etc.
Brand: The name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's product distinct from those of other sellers.
Career Resource Centers: Centers that can be set up in a prison facility that provide a variety of resources to prepare the inmate for the world of work
Cash Conversion Cycle: The period of time beginning with the initial outlay of cash for raw materials and ending with payment of goods or services provided
Certification: The confirmation of certain characteristics of a person, or organization; this confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, or assessment.
Cognitive Behavior Training (CBT): A systematic approach to addressing dysfunctional thoughts, feelings, and behaviors through structured workshops
Collaboration Inventory: An analysis to assess a potential partners/stakeholders’ strengths and weakness that allows you to address any deficiencies that might exist, thus increasing the probability of a successful partnership
Communication Plan: Step by step process that includes determining who to target, when, with what message and how, in order to ensure that the intended message is received, understood, and acted upon by the recipient. Communication channels include advertising, public relations, experiences or direct mail.
Conflict Resolution: Also known as Reconciliation, this is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict. The term conflict resolution may also be used interchangeably with dispute resolution, where arbitration and litigation processes are critically involved.
Core Values: A principle that guides an organization's internal conduct as well as its relationship with the external world. Core values are usually summarized in the mission statement or in a statement of core values.
Criminogenic Needs: Dynamic crime producing factors that are strongly correlated with risk; these include factors like offenders’ attitudes and values, their lack of problem solving skills, their substance abuse and their employment status. These factors are all correlated with recidivism and can be targeted for change.
Dashboard: Popular graphic tool used to display program toward strategic goals
Evidence-Based Practice: A successful practice that is supported by rigorous research and creditable sources
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Manufacturing driven software used to manage inventory, order processing, costing, raw material ordering and tracking, labor costs, asset management, accounts receivables, budgeting and forecasting
Gainful Attachment to the Workplace: Ongoing connection to the labor force via vocational education, specialized training, volunteer placements, academic pursuits, as well as paid employment, to support personal fulfillment and positive self-image while leading to self-sufficiency
Hot Buttons: Issues that cause people to feel strong emotions (such as anger) and to argue with each other
Job Readiness Assessments: A structured series of questions about work history, education, and attitudes on work, motivation, and resilience to determine offenders’ employability
Job Search Knowledge Scale (JSKS): An assessment used to discover the job search skills an individual needs to find work faster
Job Search Attitude Inventory (JSAI): A 40-item inventory designed to make job seekers more aware of their self-directed and other directed attitudes about their search for employment
Labor Market Information (LMI): Job availability in a certain location, includes job types, vacancies and wages
Mission: A pre-established and often self-imposed objective or purpose (statement of the company's mission)
Mission Statement: The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making. It provides the framework or context within which the company's strategies are formulated.
Motivational Interviewing: A counseling style that works to engage and strengthen motivation for change
Offender Employability Specialist (OES): A professional who maximizes offenders’ potential for successful reentry by guiding offenders to opportunities in job development, placement, retention, and advancement.
Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS): A professional who helps offenders make informed decisions about jobs and career paths
Operational Funds: Cash required to cover operating expenses
Performance Management System: Activities which ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of an organization, a department, employee, or even the processes to build a product of service, as well as many other areas. Performance Management is also known as a process by which organizations align their resources, systems and employees to strategic objectives and priorities
PEST Analysis: An analysis to determine the Political, Economic, Social and Technological challenges facing your organization
PIE: The Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program (PIECP), or commonly referred to as “PIE”, exempts certified state and local departments of correction and other eligible entities from normal restrictions on the sale of offender-made goods in interstate commerce. The program also lifts restrictions on these certified entities permitting them to sell offender-made goods to the Federal Government in amounts exceeding the $10,000 maximum normally imposed on such transactions. The PIE Certification Program was created by Congress in 1979 to encourage states and units of local government to establish employment opportunities for offenders that approximate private-sector work opportunities.
Promising Practice: A practice that is showing promising results but does not have enough data collected or rigorous research conducted
Recidivism: Repeated relapse, or the rate at which criminals re-offend; the US Department of Justice defines recidivism as the percent of released prisoners rearrested within 3 years.
Reentry: The transition of offenders from prisons or jails back into the community.
Rehabilitation: The act of bringing someone back to a normal, healthy condition; to teach a criminal in prison to live a normal and productive life.
Revenue Stream: The channels by which money flows into an organization.
Root Cause Analysis: Used to understand the threats, barriers and challenges to achieving the desired end state.
Soft Skills: Personality traits that enable someone to interact effectively with other people.
Stakeholder: One that has a stake in an enterprise; one who is involved in or affected by a course of action
Stakeholder Mapping: An analysis used to determine and rank your stakeholders by influence and interest in your program.
Strategic Plan: An organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. It may also extend to control mechanisms for guiding the implementation of the strategy.
SWOT Analysis: An analysis to determine the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats facing your organization.
Taglines: a memorable phrase or sentence that is closely associated with a particular person, product, etc.
Transferable Skills: Aptitude and knowledge acquired through personal experience such as schooling, jobs, classes, hobbies, sports etc. Basically, any talent developed and able to be used in future employment
Trigger Points: Communicating with customers at preplanned points in time; the customer decides when a communication occurs through prompts captured in a data collection and analysis system.
Value Proposition: An analysis of what your customers value versus the values of your organization.
Vision: An aspirational description of what an organization would like to achieve or accomplish in the mid-term or long-term future. It is intended to serve as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action.