FFY'17 Prison Rape Elimination Act Reallocation Project - Washington

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) 2017.

The goals of the FY 2017 PREA Reallocation JAG Program are to support 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 continue to support activities in an effort to achieve compliance with the PREA Standards. The funds will be subawarded to the Department of Corrections (DOC). A portion of funds will aid in addressing the maintenance and improvement of systems that support the resolution of identified issues and concerns from PREA audits. The remaining funds will allow the DOC to continue to work on developing and maintaining effective tracking and reporting systems. Lastly, the DOC will be responsible for recruitment, training and support of a Corrections Specialist 3 to provide pre-audit assessment, and serve as a subject-matter expert.

NCA/NCF