MN FY24 PREA

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety will use funds to support PREA training as a new position to assist with the Charter and any additional money will be used for training. The Minnesota Department of Corrections (MNDOC) has continued to fail audits, four in 2021 and three of five in 2022 and three in 2023, three in 2024. Findings involved multiple statewide failures affecting all the sites. The PREA Coordinator position was eliminated in the beginning of Covid. An Investigator was filling in the job duties and carrying out their regular investigative role at the same time and it was unmanageable.   In 2021 a PREA Coordinator position was filled. In 2024, an Operational Analyst, a Regional  Assistant and a Compliance Associate position was created and filled. A second Regional Assistant position is in the process of being filled.

The MNDOC training department, human resources department and victim services units were all reduced to approximately less than 5% of their normal staffing during the pandemic, which heavily impacted functioning. Facilities were understaffed, PREA Compliance Mangers were newly tasked with managing the covid pandemic and were not managing all their PREA responsibilities. The PREA auditors were directed to be more thorough with audits as nationwide many areas were not being thoroughly audited, including Minnesota. Past DOJ auditors were not recertified, and new auditors were trained. Minnesota contracted with a new auditor, and she found many areas which were not identified in previous audits, despite policy and procedures not changing. This raised the level of expectations, including adding additional procedural steps and forms which needed to be created, trained, and documented once they were recognized as noncompliance.