The organisation changed and grew and was renamed NICRO (the National Institute for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of Offenders) in 1970 (at the 1997 biennial general meeting the word Rehabilitation was replaced with Reintegration).

The organisation originally served prisoners and their families. A number of changes took place in the 1980s and 1990s. In the late 1980's NICRO started to serve victims of crime. In the early 1990's the Economic Opportunities Project was introduced to deal with unemployment and the special needs of NICRO clients. In 1992 after a joint campaign with other ngo's "Justice for the Children: no child should be caged" NICRO introduced diversion for young offenders (channeling them away from the criminal justice system into programmes that make them accountable for their actions) which has grown to serve some 10450 young people per year.

NICRO now functions in all nine provinces, has many service points and over forty community victim support centres. NICRO serves a large number of magisterial districts.

There are a great number of people who have contributed to NICRO's history. If you have NICRO stories or memories, please email them to info@nicro.org.za

The Annual Reports, NICRO News and NICRO publications offer more information.