PREA Program: Strategic Support for PREA Implementation

 

The goal of this program is to support efforts in the confinement facilities that are covered by the PREA Standards to achieve compliance with the standards. The programs objectives are to: 1. Reduce sexual abuse in confinement facilities. 2. Increase staff capacity for preventing sexual abuse in confinement facilities. 3. Promote integration of the PREA standards into the day-to-day operations and cultures of confinement facilities. 4. Identify and document innovations and promising practices in order to inform similar efforts across the nation. 5. Create cultures of zero tolerance for sexual abuse in confinement facilities. Performance Measure 1: Number of assistance requests from the field (i.e., state, local, and tribal) related to PREA implementation responded to by the PREA Resource Center; and, Performance Measure 2: Number of PREA Audits completed of confinement facilities.

Active 16.735 Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2020 Since FY 2011, BJA has made more than 100 competitive grant awards to state, local, and tribal jurisdictions across the nation under the PREA Demonstration Grant Program. Totaling more than $35 million, these grants are intended to promote the implementation of zero tolerance cultures in confinement facilities related to sexual abuse and sexual harassment, and to support efforts to achieve compliance with the PREA Standards. BJA anticipates making awards under this program in FY 2020 totaling up to $4,500,000. Visit https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh186/files/media/document/fy2020-prea-grant-impact.pdf for a list of awards.
Fiscal Year 2021 BJA awarded $3.4 million through the FY 2021 Implementing the PREA Standards, Protecting Inmates, and Safeguarding Communities Program. This program provides funding for projects designed to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse and sexual harassment in confinement facilities and to achieve and maintain compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act standards.
Fiscal Year 2022 State of the PREA Nation Since the first submissions in 2014, there has been an upward trend in the number of states and territories submitting certifications of full compliance, whereas the number of jurisdictions opting to submit neither a certification nor an assurance has decreased. The Bureau of Justice Assistance’s State PREA Submission website provides a map that reflects Governors’ submissions for each audit year in a 3-year cycle and links to final PREA audit reports on confinement facilities identified by state and territorial Governors as under their operational control. See: https://data.ojp.usdoj.gov/stories/s/e58i-aehm Prison Rape Elimination Act, Public Law 108-79, 34 U.S.C. 30301, et seq.
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260, Statute 134-1182, 1258, Title Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260, Statute 134,1182,1258
Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328 Eligible applicants are states, units of local government, and federally-recognized Indian tribal governments (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior). Not applicable. The applicant must submit a completed Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form 424), including signed assurances that it will comply with statutory and administrative requirements. The applicant is also required to submit a description that includes: (1) program goals; (2) implementation process; (3) timetable for implementation; and (4) documentation that includes organizational experience, name of grantee agency or fiscal agent, identification of management structure, letters of support/commitment and/or memoranda of understanding, and description of previous collaboration. Preapplication coordination is required. The applicant is also required to submit documentation that includes organizational experience, name of grantee agency or fiscal agent, identification of management structure, letters of support/commitment and/or memoranda of understanding, and description of previous collaboration. See the current fiscal year’s solicitation available at the Office of Justice Programs web site (http://www.ojp.gov/funding/solicitations.htm) and/or https://www.bja.gov/funding.aspx. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Applicants must submit a completed Standard Form 424 and other information outlined in the Application Kit to the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance. The receipt, review, and analysis of applications will follow Office of Justice Programs policies and procedures for the administration of grant applications. Applications must be submitted on-line through the DOJ's Justice Grants System (JustGrants). Upon approval by the Office of Justice Programs Assistant Attorney General, successful applicants are notified via DOJ's Justice Grants System (JustGrants). The grant award must be accepted electronically by the receiving organizations authorized official in JustGrants. Contact the headquarters or regional location, as appropriate for application deadlines See the current fiscal year's solicitation available at the Office of Justice Programs web site (https://www.ojp.gov/funding/explore/current-funding-opportunities) and/or https://bja.ojp.gov/program/prison-rape-elimination-act-prea/funding. There are no appeal rights for rejection of a discretionary application. See section 28 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 18. See the current fiscal year's solicitation available at the Office of Justice Programs web site (https://www.ojp.gov/funding/explore/current-funding-opportunities) and/or https://bja.ojp.gov/program/prison-rape-elimination-act-prea/funding. See the current fiscal year's solicitation available at the Office of Justice Programs web site (https://www.ojp.gov/funding/explore/current-funding-opportunities) and/or https://bja.ojp.gov/program/prison-rape-elimination-act-prea/funding. The PREA Program supports projects with program design elements that are intended to reduce sexual victimization in correctional facilities, promote a “zero tolerance” environment, and assist confinement facilities in meeting the requirements of the PREA standards. Grants may be used to support the following types of design elements as part of a comprehensive approach: • Strategies to promote and institutionalize agency and facility staff buy-in for new policies, procedures, and practices that address sexual abuse. • Designation of staff positions responsible for PREA implementation. • Facility-specific staffing plans to reduce the likelihood of sexual abuse that result from examining current staffing levels and patterns, the sizes and compositions of inmate/resident/detainee populations, and the physical layouts of facilities. • Methods to report sexual abuse when it occurs in confinement facilities. • Intake, screening, and classification processes designed to identify potential sexual abuse victims and perpetrators, and to make housing, placement, and programming decisions in response. • Inmate/Detainee/Resident education programs on topics such as available sexual abuse reporting mechanisms and services available to victims. • Sexual abuse response protocols which include protections for victims and ensure prompt, thorough, and objective investigations of all allegations. • Electronic inmate/detainee/resident management systems designed to track abusers and victims effectively. • Formal partnerships between confinement agencies/facilities and community-based organizations such as rape crisis centers and sexual abuse coalitions, intended to provide services and support to victims. • Victim-centered approaches at the agency and/or facility levels designed to address the needs of sexual abuse victims effectively. • Efforts to prevent and address secondary trauma among agency and/or facility staff members. • Agency/facility staff training on preventing, detecting, and responding to sexual abuse, and building skills necessary to achieve PREA implementation. • Strategies to increase collaboration between confinement agencies/facilities, and prosecutors and the courts to increase the likelihood that sexual abuse that occurs in confinement is successfully prosecuted. • Agency-wide plans to collect, analyze, and report data about sexual abuse in confinement facilities covered by the PREA standards. • Processes that leverage technology to improve efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse (e.g., incident mapping technologies to identify locations within confinement facilities where inmates/residents/detainees and staff members are vulnerable, and taking steps to mitigate these vulnerabilities). • Plans to purchase “limited” equipment and/or supplies (using less than 40 percent of the total federal award amount) that are necessary to prevent, detect, or respond to sexual abuse Applicants proposing to use federal funds on equipment and/or supplies must thoroughly describe how these expenditures are part of a larger, comprehensive PREA implementation strategy. • Analyses of confinement facility blueprints to identify vulnerable areas and implement strategies, which implement technology such as concealed video, alterations to facility layouts, and data analysis, in order to better protect inmates/residents/detainees, and staff. • Actions related to conducting PREA audits, such as preparing for audits, carrying out mock or practice audits, selecting and entering into contracts/agreements with DOJ-certified PREA auditors, and covering the costs associated with audits and corrective action plans. Performance Reports: To assist in fulfilling the Departments responsibilities under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), Public Law 103-62, and the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, Public Law 111–352, recipients must provide data that measures the results of their work. . In accordance with the requirement set forth in 2 CFR 200, Subpart F, grantees must maintain all financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other records pertinent to the award for at least 3 years following the close of the most recent audit. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching is mandatory. 50%. Federal funds awarded under this program may not cover more than 50 percent of the total costs of the project. Applicants must identify the source of the 50 percent non-federal portion of the total project costs and how they will use match funds. If a successful applicant’s proposed match exceeds the required match amount, and OJP approves the budget, the total match amount incorporated into the approved budget becomes mandatory and subject to audit. (Match is restricted to the same uses of funds as allowed for the federal funds.) Applicants may satisfy this match requirement with cash, in-kind, or a combination of both. See Prison Rape Elimination Act, 34 USC 30301, et seq.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. See the current fiscal year’s solicitation available at the Office of Justice Programs web site at https://www.ojp.gov/funding/explore/current-funding-opportunities and/or https://bja.ojp.gov/program/prison-rape-elimination-act-prea/funding. Reimbursement. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/release: Department of Justice Grants Financial Guide (https://www.ojp.gov/funding/financialguidedoj/overview) and Post Award Instructions (https://www.ojp.gov/funding/financialguidedoj/iii-postaward-requirements). None/Not specified. Tom Talbot
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Assistance
810 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20531 US
AskBJA@usdoj.gov
Phone: (202) 616-6500 https://bja.ojp.gov/program/prea/overview 15-0404-0-1-754 (Project Grants) FY 22$22,742,232.00; FY 23 est $15,500,000.00; FY 24 est $15,500,000.00; FY 21$22,486,548.00; FY 20$16,696,201.00; FY 19$15,328,729.00; FY 18$10,207,126.00; FY 17$10,500,000.00; - For specifics, please see the current fiscal year's solicitation available at the Office of Justice Programs web site https://ojp.gov/funding/Explore/CurrentFundingOpportunities.htm. Office of Justice Programs funding opportunities https://www.ojp.gov/funding/explore/current-funding-opportunities Department of Justice Grants Financial Guide (https://www.ojp.gov/funding/financialguidedoj/overview) and Post award Instructions (https://www.ojp.gov/funding/financialguidedoj/iii-postaward-requirements), applicable OMB Circulars and regulations, and Department of Justice regulations applicable to specific types of grantees. Fiscal Year 2020 For a list of awards, please visit https://bja.ojp.gov/program/prison-rape-elimination-act-prea/overview