ASSOCIATION NEWS
IACFP 2022 DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR
Dr. Reuben Jonathan Miller
IACFP has been sponsoring the Distinguished Scholar lecture at the annual ICPA Conference for a number of years – primarily because we share some important core values with ICPA. Just like ICPA, we are committed to partnering with other organizations in ‘Helping the Helpers’ — supporting corrections professionals worldwide, not just psychologists but all other helping professionals in our field. Both associations want to help imbue the field with both evidence- based and practitioner-informed policies and practices.
Dr. Miller is a University of Chicago sociologist and the author of Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration. Recently he was named a John D. MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow. This year the fellows were described as “offering new ways for us to understand the communities, systems, and social forces that shape our lives around the globe.” That certainly describes Dr. Miller’s work.
Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration, the title of Dr. Miller’s most recent book, was also the title of his Distinguished Scholar Lecture. The lecture was insightful, thought provoking and a call to action both personally and systemically. The PowerPoint slides that were used by Dr. Miller during his presentation are presented here. A video of his presentation will be posted in the future.

IACFP and ICPA delivered a webinar on 9th July 2020. It addressed the issue of staff well-being and resilience during and after a pandemic. The panelists for the webinar were. Dr. Robin Belcher-Timme, Psy.D., ABPP, CCHP-MH, Vice President and Senior Consultant, Falcon, Inc., USA, Dr. Gabriel Ong, Principal Psychologist and Deputy Director, Psychological Research, Operations and Programme Design, Singapore Prison Service, Singapore, Dr. Sarah Lewis, Director, Penal Reform Solutions, United Kingdom, and Dr. Jake Phillips, Reader in Criminology, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom. The webinar was facilitated by Dr. Frank Porporino, IACFP President, and Cherie Townsend, Executive Director. Over 300 people from 50 countries registered for the webinar. You can view the recorded webinar, PPT slides and answers to questions that were not able to be addressed during the recorded webinar by clicking the links below.
The Top 5 Priorities For 2020:
- IACFP International Correctional Mental Health Leadership Network
- Phase 1 of goal to advance research and support for effective mental health service delivery systems in community corrections internationally
- Event to build a bridge between scholars and practitioner communities on emerging best practices for the mentally ill
- Distribute a newsletter that focuses on reform outside and inside prison worldwide
- Put the “I” for International in IACFP
IACFP STUDENT RESEARCH AWARD APPLICATIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE
The IACFP Student Members are eligible to apply for the IACFP Student Research Award and the IACFP Student Travel Award. The IACFP Board approved up to two $2500 USD research awards and up to five $1000 USD travel awards for calendar year 2020; however, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, only the research awards will be distributed in 2020. Both the research awards and travel awards are expected to be included in the 2021 budget. Research Award Applications are available here; Student Travel Award Applications are available here.
The applications for the research awards will be based on the following:
- Research topic
- Research summary
- Contribution of the research to the literature and/or practice
- Alignment with the vision and goals of IACFP
- Preferences noted in the application process, i.e., research that may enhance practitioner practices and outcomes through innovative programs as well as the well-being of practitioners working in applied forensic and correctional psychology settings.
Timeline for 2020 Research Awards:
October 2020 Application Process Open
6 November 2020 Deadline for Submitting Applications
15 December 2020 Decisions Announced for 2020 Awards
Applications for Travel Awards and Research Awards will be accepted for 2021 beginning in January 2021. The first deadline for applications in both categories will be 1 March 2021. Decisions will be announced no later than 15 April 2021.
Questions regarding the process and eligibility should be addressed to executivedirectoriacfp@gmail.com