Prison Rape Elimination Program in Massachusetts

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 grantee will use awarded PREA reallocation funds to purchase cameras that will supplement staff monitoring as a deterrent and investigative tool in an effort to monitor, deter, detect, and respond to potential PREA incidents. Grant funds will also be used to contract with DOJ certified PREA auditors for PREA audits to be conducted at four Massachusetts State Department of Correction’s Facilities. The goal of the project is to achieve compliance with national PREA standards.

NCA/NCF