How-Tos

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Choosing Life Skills: A Guide for Selecting Life Skills Programs for Adult and Juvenile Offenders
O. Coffey and J. Knoll, U.S. Department of Education, 1998
A guide for adult and juvenile correctional educators who are developing life skills programs. Describes how to select the appropriate life skills materials based on the needs of the client and the resources of the program in terms of staff, money, space, and equipment. Includes a needs assessment form, a product data form, and a product evaluation form.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/AdultEd/OCE/LifeSkills/

Offender Workforce Development Division
National Institute for Corrections, U.S. Department of Justice
Provides information on offender job training and placement programs, trains staff to work with offenders and ex-offenders, and teaches state and local agencies about advance job training and placement services for their charges. Links to statistics that can be used for grant writing and "how-to" publications on a variety of correctional education issues.
http://nicic.gov/owd

Bringing Family Literacy to Incarcerated Settings: An Instructional Guide
The Hudson River Center for Program Development, Inc.
Provides an overview of family literacy and how it can be implemented in a correctional facility. Offers several program designs and information about setting program standards, obtaining funding, marketing, and training staff.
Download/view: PDF (963KB) | HTML

Center for Employment Opportunities
A job-readiness and placement service for newly released inmates in New York City, CEO has developed a seven-step reentry model that could be replicated and adapted by adult education programs and other jurisdictions. The steps, which include job-readiness training, paid transitional employment, in-depth vocational assessment, and job coaching, are outlined on the website. Three manuals describing how the model can be fully or partially replicated are available on request.
http://www.ceoworks.org/

Life Skills Curriculum for State and Local Offenders
Des Moines Area Community College
A 12-week curriculum framework that includes lesson plans, suggestions for classroom activities, and sample handouts. Curriculum covers topics such as budgeting, housing, computer literacy, transportation, communication, and job retention.
http://www.dmacc.edu/outreach/lifeskills/index.html

Project Metamorphosis – Corrections Education
R. Atkinson, F. Cook, and C. Gouz, Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections
A curriculum designed for correctional education programs in Louisiana. Divided into 13 volumes that cover topics such as critical thinking skills, decision-making, communication, finding and maintaining employment, parenting, and money management.
http://www.doe.state.la.us/slrc/proj_meta/index.html