Operate the Prison Rape Elimination Act Resource Center

Impact Justice (IJ) has successfully operated the National PREA Resource Center (PRC) under the direction of the PREA Management Office (PMO) of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) since 2016, and members of the PRC’s leadership team have been responsible for its stewardship since its inception in 2011. IJ has built the expertise, training and technical assistance (TTA) delivery systems, and data gathering and analysis capacity necessary to address the ongoing challenges that PREA implementation poses for corrections, juvenile justice, and law enforcement. IJ proposes to continue working with the PMO to leverage these resources to make measurable progress in the effort to eliminate sexual abuse in confinement by expanding its reach through outreach, direct assistance, and providing broader access to remote TTA, focusing its TTA on the most prevalent and persistent deficiencies in agencies’ PREA efforts.

Under IJ and in cooperation with its partners, the PRC will continue to provide critical PREA implementation support through a layered and tailored approach to the needs of the field. IJ and its partners will continue to provide expert coaching and TA to BJA grantees; they will conduct readiness assessments at numerous additional facilities; and they will provide advanced TA at a handful of sites, digging into critical areas of need. The direct, individualized coaching and TA will generate resources and lessons that can be multiplied through the PRC’s remote training vehicles. These resources and lessons will enhance the online PREA 101 course delivered to people directly responsible for PREA implementation; inform webinars and conference presentations; and enrich the assistance the PRC delivers in response to field initiated requests. The PRC under IJ will deliver the first PREA Academy Investigations Training (PAIT), as well as a course on protecting LGBTI people in confinement, meeting two urgent needs in the field. The PRC’s website will continue to be the most comprehensive resource available for agencies seeking to comply with the PREA standards, providing thousands of tools and resources in its library and supporting access to IJ’s team of unparalleled experts. IJ’s work to pilot and share a culture change tool with the field will help facilities reach the next level of their work to advance sexual safety.

IJ has the unique staff competency, relationships, TTA, audit support and monitoring systems necessary to provide unparalleled support in the delivery of PREA-related training and technical assistance as the PRC persists in its mission.