Quick Skills is a cognitive-behavioral skill building package written expressly for adult corrections clients. Why did we develop yet another curriculum when there are a number of high quality cognitive-behavioral packages available currently? Quick Skills was developed to solve three problems we experienced with other cognitive packages.

1. Course Length.    We found other packages took 15-40 weeks to complete.  We found programs often experienced severe attrition in their classes when the course lasted more than 5-6 weeks.  A modular cognitive behavioral package needed to be developed that would allow the offender to complete units within 4 weeks if it was to be successful.  Quick Skills meets this need, each unit can be completed in less than one month with only two classes a week. With Quick Skills, offenders remain motivated as they are able to receive certificates of completion each month.

2.  One-Size-Fits-All Content.  We found many cognitive packages were “one course” which mixed content in ways that forced offenders to sit through material they really didn’t need.  This increased offender frustration with the course and enhanced attrition. Quick Skills is carefully divided into discrete units which can be taken separately.  This modular approach allows offenders to take only the courses they need.  The result is increased motivation and enhanced completion rates.

3.   Missing Content.  We found most packages failed to address important needs of the adult offender.  Missing in most packages were skill development in critical areas like Financial Management, Parenting, Employment Skills, etc.  Quick Skills solves this problem by directly addressing these and other important areas.

The Structure of Quick Skills