Ohio Department of Youth Services PREA Demonstration Project

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Program provides funding to states, units of local governments, and federally recognized Indian tribes to support comprehensive approaches within state, tribal, and local adult and juvenile correctional facilities to prevent, detect, and respond to incidences of sexual victimization. The PREA Program provides funding to eligible applicants for demonstration projects within confinement settings, including adult prisons and jails; juvenile facilities; community corrections facilities; law enforcement lockups and other temporary holding facilities; and tribal detention facilities. Applicants must successfully communicate a comprehensive approach to the prevention, detection, and response to the incidence of sexual abuse and clearly prioritize gaps which are as of yet unaddressed, either programmatically or through changes in policy and procedures, as they relate to implementation of the PREA standards. The goal of this program is to assist local adult and juvenile facilities in implementing prevention, identification, and response mechanisms that will reduce the incidence of sexual abuse in confinement facilities.

The grantee will use awarded grant funds to implement a model program to change social norms of correctional facilities, provide training to ensure LGBTI individuals
are seen and treated as equals and appropriate boundaries between staff and youth exist, assess physical conditions of correctional facilities and make modifications to ensure safe, develop protocols to track allegations of sexual misconduct, and develop a PREA Hotline to report allegations of sexual misconduct.
CA/NCF