Reallocation Funds

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) provides that a state or territory whose governor does not certify full compliance with the standards is subject to the loss of five percent of any DOJ grant funds that it would otherwise receive for prison purposes, unless the governor submits an assurance that such five percent will be used only for the purpose of enabling the state to achieve and certify full compliance with the standards in future years. See 42 U.S.C. 15607(c). The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program is one of the DOJ grant programs subject to this requirement in fiscal year (FY) 2015, which commenced on October 1, 2014 and ends on September 30, 2015.

The goals of the FY 2015 PREA Reallocation JAG Program are to continue implementation of the national standards to prevent, detect, and respond to prison rape in order to protect individuals from sexual abuse and sexual harassment in confinement. The West Virginia Division of Justice and Community Services will subaward grant funds to the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services (WVFRIS) to support the West Virginia PREA Victim Support Services program. This project will design the necessary infrastructure including protocols, partnerships, and training to develop a victim support service structure for the state’s adult correctional facilities. The goals and selected strategies are to build the capacity of the rape crisis centers in the state to provide support and advocacy services to adults victimized in the state’s correctional facilities, formalize the working relationships between each correctional facility and its regional rape crisis center through written policies, protocols and agreements; and create a plan for a sustainable system in which the rape crisis centers can provide accessible, trained advocates to the adult victimized in the State’s correctional facilities. The WVFRIS will collaborate with the West Virginia Division of Corrections on behalf of the state’s rape crisis centers to identify a protocol for service provision, assist the rape crisis centers in implementing policies for the provision of services, and develop a Memorandum of Understanding between the rape crisis centers and correctional facilities. WVFRIS will create a training curriculum and advocate guide that will be disseminated at a statewide advocate training that will be held at a later date. These strategies will assist the state’s facilities to become compliant with national PREA standards.

NCA/NCF