PREA and the Division of Juvenile Justice

The following is a brief summary of the background and implementation status of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) for Division of Juvenile Justice facilities.

PREA Development

Following increasing national awareness of sexual abuse in the nation’s prisons and jails, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed the Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003. The legislation aimed to curb prison rape through a “zero-tolerance” policy, national standards, data collection, and external auditing. The legislation authorized the creation the National Prison Rape Commission to implement the statute and recommendations for regulatory standards. In August 2012, the Department of Justice released the final PREA standards for three categories of entities: Adult prisons and jails, juvenile facilities, and community detention facilities.

• PREA Juvenile Standards

DJJ Policy Implementation

Since the passage of the PREA statute, the Division of Juvenile Justice has been working to comply with the developing standards and best practices.

DJJ has zero tolerance for any acts of sexual abuse, assault, misconduct, or harassment. Sexual activity between staff and juveniles, volunteers or contract personnel and juveniles, and juvenile and juvenile, regardless of consensual status, is prohibited and subject to administrative and criminal disciplinary sanctions. Any PREA related allegation that appears to be criminal is referred to local or state law enforcement for investigation and consideration for prosecution.

The release of the full PREA Standards required an expansive revision of this policy and other associated policies and procedures. The revisions to the DJJ PREA Policy are ongoing and the steady progress is being made towards full compliance.

The Department employs a Statewide PREA Coordinator responsible for the development, implementation, and oversight of the agency's efforts to comply with the PREA standards.

The Division trains staff, contractors, teachers, and volunteers how to prevent, detect, report and respond to incidents of sexual abuse, educates all facility residents of their rights to be free of sexual abuse and harassment and how to report known or suspected abuse.

If you know of or suspect sexual abuse, harassment, or other misconduct occurring at a DJJ facility please report it. PREA and other reports may made by contacting the DJJ PREA hotline at 1-877-765-2212 or via email.

Independent Auditing

PREA requires agencies to hire independent auditors to perform detailed audits of facilities, policies, and practices.

• DJJ PREA audit findings

The Division prepares an annual report on PREA compliance and facility incidents. Copies of these reports are available for download.

PREA Annual Reports

• DJJ PREA Annual Reports