"The Right to be Safe in Prison"

The Protecting Inmates and Safeguarding Communities Discretionary Grant Program was created as a result of the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (the Act), Public Law 108-79. The goal of the Act is to eradicate sexual assaults in all of the correctional facilities in this country, be they federal, state, or local in nature. Nevertheless, the statutory focus for this grant program is state and local correctional facilities. This program is divided into two parts: (1) Protecting Inmates and (2) Safeguarding Communities. The Protecting Inmates part focuses on providing funding to state and local agencies for the costs of personnel, training, technical assistance, and data collection in the areas of prevention, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of victims of inmate on inmate sexual assault in a correctional facility. The Safeguarding Communities component of the program focuses on assisting the states in developing and implementing strategies when making release decisions for sexual aggressors without compromising public safety and addressing the needs of the victims after release.

The primary goal of the Oregon Department of Corrections' Right to be Safe in Prison initiative is to increase inmate and public safety by addressing the issues of sexual assault and other high-risk behaviors among inmates in Oregon's 13 prisons and to reduce the impact on society when these offenders are released. The Oregon Department of Corrections seeks and uses internal and external expertise to eliminate sexual assault, both to reduce the pain and suffering of incarcerated persons and their families and to protect the public health of our communities as these offenders are released from prison. Other goals include: integrating conduct management information systems; educating offenders and staff about the effects of sexual abuse and how offenders can protect themselves to prevent abuse from occurring; prosecuting predatory offenders; and providing victim services inside institutions and in the community upon release.

CA/NCF