FY23 Texas PREA Reallocation Funds Program

The State of Texas has taken significant steps to eliminate prison rape and will continue to do so.  In accordance with 34 U.S.C. § 30307(e)(2)(A)(ii), the Governor’s Office provided an assurance to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in October 2022 that the State of Texas will make strides to adopt and achieve full compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) national standard described in 28 C.F.R. §115.313(c) and will utilize the PREA Reallocation Funds for that purpose.

During PREA Audit Cycle 3, the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) owned and operated 11 residential facilities for juvenile offenders. TJJD did not conduct any PREA audits during Cycle 3, Year 1, because of the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. All four of the facilities scheduled to be audited in Year 1 were rescheduled for Year 2 of Cycle 3. During PREA Audit Cycle 3, Year 2, PREA audits were conducted for five TJJD facilities. Four of these facilities were determined to be fully compliant and one TJJD facility was determined non-compliant with PREA due to their inability to comply with the PREA-mandated staff-to-youth ratio of 1:8 during waking hours as outlined in 28 C.F.R. §115.313(c).

By the beginning of PREA Audit Cycle 3, Year 3, with the closure of another halfway house, there were only 10 residential facilities for juvenile offenders owned and operated by TJJD. During Year 3 of Cycle 3, PREA audits were conducted for six TJJD facilities. Five of the six were determined to be fully compliant and one is still pending PREA compliance determination.

TJJD also oversees six juvenile residential facilities that are owned and operated by private third parties. All facilities were found fully compliant during Audit Cycle 2. Three of these facilities were audited during Audit Cycle 3 and two were again found fully PREA compliant and the other was determined non-compliant with PREA due to their inability to comply with the PREA-mandated staff-to-youth ratio of 1:8, during youth waking hours. This facility is appealing the non-compliance determination.
TJJD intends to adopt and achieve full compliance with all PREA standards. In pursuit of this, TJJD will continue to include requests in upcoming Legislative Appropriation Requests for additional staff and support to achieve the required 1:8 staff-to-youth ratio. Texas intends to utilize the FY2023 PREA award to strengthen three other PREA standards within juvenile facilities to maintain continued compliance, specifically 28 CFR §115.371, §115.331, and §115.386.