Indiana FY2015 PREA Reallocation

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 recipient will use awarded PREA Reallocation funds to offset the costs of auditing facilities as required under PREA standard 115.401. Using the audit tool and trained Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) auditors, the IDOC will conduct mock PREA audits at facilities that have not received a mock audit or has made substantial improvements based on recommendations of a previous mock audit. The IDOC will contract with certified auditors to audit adult and juvenile facilities as required by PREA standards and the IDOC will use both audit and mock audit results to examine systemic compliance barriers and potential solutions to most effectively ensure the safety of offenders and staff. The goal of the project is to reduce sexual victimization in correctional facilities by identifying systemic, physical, and cultural barriers that increases an offenders’ risk of sexual assault and implement corrective actions to prevent sexual victimization.

NCA/NCF