PREA Project to Establish System Wide Trauma Informed Training and Trauma Treatment Programs

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Program provides funding to states, units of local government, and federally recognized Indian tribes 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. The goal of this program is to assist correctional facilities in implementing comprehensive prevention, identification, and response mechanisms that will reduce the incidence of sexual abuse in confinement facilities; promote a culture of “zero tolerance” toward sexual abuse; and support facilities’ efforts to achieve compliance with the PREA standards.

The PREA funded demonstration project will provide training on trauma-informed practices for all New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) staff, as well as PREA refresher training for all employees. The program will establish four pilot sites to provide evidence-based treatment programs that focus on trauma-informed practices and treatment and staff refresher training. The goal of the program is to improve the Department’s response to trauma and sexual abuse by integrating victim-centric trauma informed strategies through a multi-pronged systematic approach that implements system-wide training for all staff to assist them with identifying trauma and its symptoms, minimize re-traumatization and provide services that are sensitive to the individualized needs of victims. The program will also implement evidence-based trauma treatment programming in identified facilities that house at-risk inmates for sexual assault including female facilities, inmates under the age of 21, and the LGBTI population. CA/NCF