Where and when is the next training session?
A great way to become connected to others interested in Thinking for A Change (T4C), and to see when open facilitator trainings are advertised, is to join and post questions to our T4C on-line community (sort of like a Face Book for corrections professionals).
NIC's Academy Division Technical Assistance Manager will post quarterly any open NIC Technical Assistance (TA) related deliveries of basic Thinking for A Change Facilitator's Training and the Thinking for A Change Advanced Practicum (train the trainer in Thinking for A Change).
"Open" in this case means that the requesting TA agency is willing to have participants from outside of their organization take part in the program, as they are unable to fill the slots with participants from their agency.
This is the best way to find out about open upcoming T4C training opportunities. Join the online community today!
What if I don't work for a government corrections organization? How can I access T4C training?
There are two options if you work for a private provider of services to a government corrections organization (a jail, a prison or a community corrections organization (probation or parole agency).
The government corrections organization to which you provide service requests TA from NIC for T4C facilitator training, and you and others from your private provider of service organization are included in the training by the TA requesting agency.
OR
Your agency can request TA from NIC directly, with a letter included from the agency CEO of the government corrections agency that your agency is statutorily required to provide services to and/or contractually provides services to, endorsing your private provider of service organization TA request to NIC. This letter must accompany the TA request to NIC.
- You attend an Open T4C TA event (see above) where a corrections agency receiving T4C training from NIC is willing to have participants from outside of their agency participate in the training. In the instances in which those occur, they will be posted to the T4C forum. All expenses related to attendance at these trainings are the responsibility of the participants or their private agencies
What Thinking for a Change (T4C) Resources Are Available From NIC? What Do They Cost
Check out the Thinking for A Change (T4C) Resource Pack available for order from our Information Center. There is no cost for this resource package, which is a combo pack of existing T4C resources that NIC has created through the years.
I heard NIC no longer offers T4C training. Is that true?
No, it is not. Contrary to what you may have heard, NIC still provides Thinking for A Change (T4C) Basic Facilitator and Advanced Practicum (Train the Trainer in T4C) training. The difference is in how NIC provides T4C training.
In the past, NIC traveled around the country and offered T4C training on set dates at various sites. Now, we offer T4C training upon specific request from corrections agencies via our Technical Assistance (TA) initiative.
Stay tuned for more information for what we will be offering in FY2012 which begins October 1, 2011 - stay tuned to this wiki and the T4C Forum for more details as they become available!
How does NIC offer Thinking for a Change Training? How can we access it?
NIC offers Thinking for A Change facilitator training via its Technical Assistance (TA) initiative directly to requesting corrections agencies.
How do we apply for technical assistance? Who is eligible?
You can request Technical Assistance to receive "Thinking for A Change Facilitator" or "Advanced Practicum" training for your government corrections agency.
What are the costs related to receiving the training? What about logistics? Copyright issues?
NIC provides Thinking for a Change training to state and local correctional agencies, through the primary method of NIC's Technical Assistance initiative. This technical assistance, or on-site training, is provided by Technical Resource Providers (TRPs) or NIC staff members who are trained to deliver the Thinking for a Change curriculum. The assigned NIC Correctional Program Specialist (CPS) will review the written request for this training and, before communicating with the requesting agency, review the request letter to ensure it is appropriate in its content and that it is on agency letterhead and contains the signature of the agency head. It will be the role of the CPS to work out all the logistics of the event with the agency contact person whose name should also be contained in the request letter.
Direct TA requests have a funding limit per request. The collective cost to NIC including TRP expenses for preparation, on-site work, travel and the resulting TA report should not exceed the limit. The requesting agency is expected to fund the cost of reproduction of all materials provided by NIC to be used for the instruction and facilitation of the training, the cost for any facilities within which the training will be conducted, audio-visual equipment needed for the training, and any additional costs related to internal agency participant attendance at the training.
The Thinking for a Change program is copyrighted by its authors, Jack Bush, Barry Glick, and Juliana Taymans. However, the program was prepared under funding from the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), and NIC reserves the right to authorize others to reproduce and use all or any part of the curriculum documents for use with individuals who currently are under the supervision of the court. With a letter, NIC will authorize individuals to photocopy Thinking for a Change for use with offenders under the supervision of your agency.
What about participants from other agencies? From private providers of service?
If the requesting agency agrees to the attendance of participants from outside agencies, all the costs for those participants attending this open TA event will be the responsibility of the visiting participant or agency. NIC is unable to contribute to those expenses.
The Thinking for a Change program is copyrighted by its authors, Jack Bush, Barry Glick, and Juliana Taymans. However, the program was prepared under funding from the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), and NIC reserves the right to authorize others to reproduce and use all or any part of the curriculum documents for use with individuals who currently are under the supervision of the court. With a letter, NIC will authorize individuals to photocopy Thinking for a Change for use with offenders under the supervision of your agency.
Thinking for A Change 3.1 Is Here!
T4C 3.1 is here! The update of the Thinking for a Change curriculum is complete. All three original authors (Jack Bush, Barry Glick, and Juliana Taymans) were involved in the revision. You can find the new package here http://nicic.gov/Library/025057
What is a Thinking for a Change (T4C) Credentialed Facilitator? How do I get the credential?
Over the past decade, thousands of individuals have been trained to facilitate the Thinking for
A Change (T4C) program with offender groups. Typically, they have participated in some form of formalized training. At the conclusion of that training they may have received a participation/completion certificate. While this certificate is routinely used as an indicator that the individual is "qualified" to facilitate the T4C program, in almost all cases, no formal assessment of program performance measures are conducted.
The National Institute of Corrections in partnership with the Center of Credentialing and Education (CCE), an internationally known credentialing organization, is now offering a formalized Thinking for a Change Certified Facilitator credential. CCE adminsters and manages the credentialing process.
When awarded, the Thinking for A Change Certified Facilitator (T4C - CF) credential will attest to the training, knowledge, skills and competencies of those who have successfully completed the credentialing process and maintain certification. For more information on the credentialing process, please go to www.cce-global.org
The T4C-CF credential is now available! Follow this link for more information http://nicic.gov/t4ccf