Tools for Trauma: The New York City Department of Correction's PREA Implementation and Compliance Strategies

Authorized under the Prison Rape Elimination Act and the 2019 Consolidated Appropriations Act, the FY19 PREA Program: Implementing the PREA Standards, Protecting Inmates, and Safeguarding Communities will assist confinement facilities and the agencies that oversee them in implementing prevention, identification, and response mechanisms that reduce the incidence of sexual abuse in these facilities, and to promote compliance with the PREA standards. Program funds will be used to support efforts of state, local, and tribal jurisdictions to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse in confinement facilities covered by the PREA standards; promote comprehensive implementation of the standards; and enhance community safety by decreasing the likelihood that inmates, residents, and detainees are sexually victimized in confinement facilities prior to release.

The recipient will use award funds to create "Tools for Trauma," to focus on mitigating the negative effects of trauma and vicarious trauma on corrections staff and implementing more trauma-informed policies, procedures, and programming across the agency. The project will fund a trauma expert contractor to provide a gap analysis of current policies and procedures and will deliver trauma-focused training to selected staff. Funding will also be used to streamline the PREA investigations process.

CA/NCF