In December 1997, the National Institute of Corrections introduced a new integrated cognitive behavior change program for offenders and sought a limited number of state, local or federal correctional agencies to serve as field test sites for the Thinking for a Change (T4C) program.  An overwhelming response from the corrections community seeking participation in the project necessitated immediate program expansion and the inclusion of a much broader scope of participation for the field test.  Since its introduction, correctional agencies in over forty states have implemented Thinking for a Change with offender populations.  These agencies include state correctional systems, local jails, community based corrections programs, and probation and parole departments.  The offender populations included in the project represent both adults and juveniles, and males and females.  Over five thousand correctional staff have been trained to facilitate offender groups.  Nearly five hundred individuals have participated in the Thinking for a Change:  Advanced Practicum (Training of Trainers) which enables their agency to train additional facilitators to deliver the program.As research of the effectiveness of the program continues to mount, so does the interest from the correctional community to adopt a quality evidenced-based cognitive behavioral change program.  The National Institute of Corrections provides this program, free of charge, to correctional agencies working to develop their continuum of programmatic interventions in this area, and also supports an online forum for discussing cognitive behavioral interventions and the T4C program.

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Part 3:  The Philosophical Foundation for the Curriculum