Legislation establishing the National Institute of Corrections mandated that it provide training, technical assistance, clearinghouse services, research, and policy-program formulation and development to improve State and local corrections. The Institute has provided management and specialty-skills training to corrections personnel and established a National Academy of Corrections at Boulder, Colo., to provide intensive training for State and local corrections staff. In 1982, the Institute provided onsite technical assistance in about 1,000 instances, and program development activities have produced transferable models in many areas, notably in the areas of prison and probation classification, parole and bail guidelines, protective custody, inmate grievance mechanisms, and probation workload measures. The major problems confronting corrections are prison and jail overcrowding and the disabling impacts of reduced State and local funding for corrections. Overcrowding can be relieved through the expansion of corrections facilities and policy changes that can reduce the rate of incarceration. While the Federal Government may not be able to allocate funds for prison and jail construction, it can help by (1) transferring Federal surplus properties to States and localities for correctional use, (2) authorization for Federal repair and construction funds at the State and local levels to include prisons and jails, (3) making low-interest loans available for prison and jail construction, (4) providing tax incentives to encourage the assistance of the private sector in the construction and renovation of correctional facilities, and (5) providing additional funds to States that develop strategies for reducing prison overcrowding. Other general actions that could relieve the impact of reduced State and local resources for corrections include the elimination of prohibitive legislation affecting State and local corrections systems and the development of cost/impact studies on all pending Federal legislation affecting State and local corrections.