Webinars

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) has announced the fiscal year 2022 site-based grant program: Implementing the PREA Standards, Protecting People Who Are Incarcerated, and Safeguarding Communities. BJA is seeking applications 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 (PREA) standards.

Congress amended the PREA statute in 2018 to require the DOJ PREA Management Office (DOJ PMO) to establish a system for assigning auditors to Federal, State, and local facilities. The DOJ PMO’s Audit Assignment system is planned to launch in June 2022, and this webinar provides you with some important information about the audit assignment system, audit contract requirements, and potential impacts for auditors.

During this webinar, we covered PREA Standard 115.11: Zero tolerance of sexual abuse and sexual harassment, PREA Coordinator. We encourage you to invite your colleagues to review the discussion and use it as an opportunity for ongoing education.

Congress amended the PREA statute in 2018 to require the PREA Management Office (PMO) to establish a system for assigning auditors to Federal, State, and local facilities. The PMO’s Audit Assignment system is planned to launch in June 2022, and this webinar provides you with some important information about the audit assignment system, audit contract requirements, and potential impacts on your company or organization.

The PRC launched a new training and resource portal for auditors and other stakeholders on January 10, 2022. Auditors can look forward to new features, such as:

• Updating contact information directly on the portal.
• Viewing a list of all audits you have reported to the PRC.
• Bookmarking resources from the PRC website to a saved library.
• Accessing a new auditor resource library with improved filters and searching capabilities.
• Experiencing a more intuitive and user-friendly system for navigating coursework.
• Using a single login for auditors who previously needed a separate account for other roles.

During this 90 minute webinar, presenters discussed the recent FAQ guidance provided by DOJ’s PREA Working Group regarding the meaning of “objective screening instrument” and provided guidance to agencies and facilities in determining whether their PREA Risk Screening Instruments are compliant with Standard 115.41/241/341. The webinar covered the differences between the adult and juvenile versions of the Standards.

During this webinar, we covered PREA Standard 115.22: Policies to ensure referrals of allegations for investigations. We encourage you to invite your colleagues to view the discussion and use it as an opportunity for ongoing education.

This month's presenter was Marion Morgan, PRC Associate Director, who is responsible for training and certification of Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) auditors, staffing the PRC hotline for certified PREA auditors, and responding to questions from the field related to interpretation and implementation of the PREA standards. Ms. Morgan is also the Program Manager for the certified PREA auditor Field Training Program (FTP). Marion’s background spans many facets in the corrections field: Former PREA director for the State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WI DOC) from April 2011 until January 2014 and she also served for 30 years as a police officer and detective with the Madison Police Department investigating intimate partner crimes including stalking, strangulation, all forms of sexual assault/domestic abuse crimes, and homicides. 

The PRC is happy to announce the release of new resources for auditors and agencies to include four sets of Document Review Worksheets. These resources were created for the Field Training Program and recently revised for broader use by auditors and agencies/facilities. The worksheets will aid a facility in the identification and collection of the proof documentation an auditor needs to audit the standards and will assist an auditor in the review of that proof documentation.

On 10/28/2021, the PRC hosted a live 90-minute webinar to introduce and share these resources with auditors and agencies/facilities. During the webinar, speakers showcased the worksheets with explanations of how both auditors and facility staff can utilize the resources to aid in their audit preparation.

During this webinar, we covered PREA Standard 115.18: Upgrades to facilities and technology. We encourage you to invite your colleagues to view this discussion and use it as an opportunity for ongoing education.

During this final 90-minute session, Professor Smith answered live and pre-submitted questions covering all three parts in the PREA Litigation webinar series.