PREA Discussion
Office of Justice Programs
BJA’s PREA Management Office (PMO)
PREA Resource Center (PRC)
Raising the Bar Coalition
August 12, 2014
10:30am – 12noon
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Agenda
• Introductions, welcome, opening remarks
• Responses to numbers questions
• Auditing update
• Current priorities and next steps
• Quality assurance process

• Discussion of other key topics and questions

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Responses to Numbers
Questions

3

Auditor Training Update
Training Information
• 40-hour training and post-training examination

• 6 trainings completed to date
• Currently 349 DOJ-Certified Auditors

• Additional trainings in 2014 – Columbia, SC
• September 29-October 3
• November 3-7
• Anticipated number of certified auditors by end
of 2014
• Approximately 600
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Auditor Training Update (cont.)
Training Information
• Summary of what is known about auditors’
affiliations with private organizations, and with
local/state/federal justice agencies.
• Auditor independence is key.

5

BJA Grant Funding Related to PREA: FY2004 –
Present
FY2004
• 16 awards made to 16 states in the total amount of
$10,695,078.
FY2006
• 29 awards made to 28 states and Puerto Rico in the total
amount of $22,574,056.
FY2007
• 1 supplemental award made to an FY 2006 grantee in the
total amount of $3,805.
FY2010
• The National PREA Resource Center (PRC) is established via
cooperative agreement between the Bureau of Justice
Assistance and the National Council on Crime and
Delinquency.
• The PRC is funded through September 2016.
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BJA Grant Funding Related to PREA: FY2004 –
Present (cont.)
FY2011
• First year of the current PREA Demonstration Program to
establish “zero tolerance” cultures related to sexual abuse
and sexual harassment in confinement facilities.
• 18 awards made to 18 states in the total amount of
$9,279,198.
FY2012
• 12 awards made to 12 states in the total amount of
$3,963,217.
• The PRC made 43 awards to 43 local/county jurisdictions in
the total amount of $4,835,659.
FY2013
• 12 awards made to 12 states in the total amount of
$2,924,095
• 7 awards made to 7 local/county jurisdictions in the total
amount of $1,549,719.
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BJA Grant Funding Related to PREA: FY2004 –
Present (cont.)
FY2014
• BJA plans to make additional state and local/county grant awards.
• To be announced by September 30, 2014.
States and territories not in receipt of PREA grants from BJA:
FY2004 – FY2013
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Alaska
American Samoa
Arizona
Connecticut
Guam
Hawai’i
Mississippi
Nevada
North Dakota
Northern Marianas Islands
Oklahoma
U.S. Virgin Islands
Utah
West Virginia

Auditing Update

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Auditing Update
• PREA audits are being scheduled and occurring
across the country, in the Bureau of Prisons, and
in states that include: Alabama, California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire,
New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington,
and Wyoming.
• Collecting information about audits in the past,
present, and future will be part of the quality
assurance efforts to be undertaken by DOJ.
• To date, DOJ has not requested that an agency
conduct an expedited audit of a facility.
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Auditing Update (cont.)
• PREA audit tools for the four facility types are now
available.
• The PMO and the PRC are collecting feedback on the
tools from many sources:
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Other OJP/DOJ components
DOJ-Certified PREA Auditors
Faculty members from the auditor training
Agencies and facilities using the tools
Others

• The tools are being updated as needed based on the
feedback collected.
• The PMO and the PRC welcome and encourage
feedback on the tools from members of the Raising
the Bar Coalition.
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Current Priorities and
Next Steps

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Current Priorities and Next Steps
Focus of OJP’s/PMO’s Work to Date, in Collaboration with the PRC

• Implementing the PREA audit function, including
training and certifying auditors, and developing the
audit tools.
• Leading the efforts of DOJ’s PREA Working Group to
issue interpretative guidance related to the standards.
• Providing technical assistance and training to the field.

• Supporting the work of BJA’s PREA Grantees.
• Conducting proactive outreach to, and seeking input
from, key constituent groups.

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Current Priorities and Next Steps (cont.)
Looking to the Future
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Continue:
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Issuing interpretative guidance
Providing TTA
Supporting BJA’s PREA Grantees
Conducting proactive outreach and seeking input from
external constituents
Focusing on the PREA audit function

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Work with and monitor the activities of states that provided
DOJ with an assurance or certification.

•

Work with states that submitted neither an assurance nor a
certification, so they may submit next year.

•

Implement a quality assurance processes to support and
enhance the PREA audit function.

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Quality Assurance
Process

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Quality Assurance Process
Overview
• Process to be finalized and published this fall.

• Potential purposes include:

• Collecting and sharing information about past,
planned, ongoing, and completed PREA audits
• Identifying trends in agencies’ and facilities’
efforts and ability to comply with the
standards
• Helping to guide PREA training and technical
assistance, and BJA’s PREA Grant Program
• Ensuring certified auditors meet or exceed
expectations as defined in the PREA Auditor
Training, and forthcoming PREA Auditor
Handbook

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Discussion of Other
Key Topics and
Questions

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Other Key Topics and Questions
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Juvenile staffing ratio requirement

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5% spending commitment

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Police custody outside of lockups

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Responses to letters from governors

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Sunset for assurances

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Provision for youthful inmates in adult facilities

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Costs of compliance

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Misuse of “PREA policies” at the facility level

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115.313(b) and/or other cross-gender provisions of the Final Rule –
Creation of a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)

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Primary OJP/PMO Contact

Tom Talbot
Senior Policy Advisor
PREA Management Office
Bureau of Justice Assistance
Office of Justice Programs
thomas.talbot@usdoj.gov
(202) 514-9482

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