Department of Justice PREA Working Group
The Department of Justice (DOJ) PREA Working Group was first established by the U.S. Attorney General to review the PREA Commission’s recommended standards and to issue final PREA Standards based on the independent judgment of the U.S. Attorney General. (34 U.S.C. § 30307(a)(2)).
The DOJ PREA Working Group’s current mission is to provide guidance to auditors, agencies, and facilities on how to interpret the Standards. This guidance is issued in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) published on the PREA Resource Center website.
The DOJ PREA Working Group’s active members include representatives from the following DOJ components: Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP’s) Office of the Assistant Attorney General; Bureau of Prisons, Civil Rights Division; National Institute of Corrections; Office on Violence Against Women; Federal Bureau of Investigation; OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance; OJP’s Office for Victims of Crime; OJP’s Office for Civil Rights; OJP’s Office of the General Counsel; and OJP’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
PREA Management Office
The PREA Management Office was established by the Deputy Attorney General in 2013 within OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, and is responsible for:
- Creating, implementing, and overseeing all aspects of the PREA audit function. The PREA Management Office trains and certifies PREA auditors, provides continuing education and training opportunities for DOJ-certified PREA auditors, maintains the PREA audit instrument, and manages PREA audit oversight to enhance the reliability and integrity of PREA audits. (34 U.S.C. § 30307(a)(2)). The PRC works with the PREA Management Office to support all aspects of the PREA audit function.
- Directing a robust, nationwide training and technical assistance initiative to support jurisdictions across the country with implementing the PREA Standards. The PREA Management Office partners with the PRC and a team of providers through the Site-Based Technical Assistance program to provide targeted training and technical assistance to state, local, and tribal jurisdictions across the nation that are working to uphold their requirements under the Standards.
- Overseeing the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s competitive PREA grant program, “Implementing the PREA Standards, Protecting Inmates, and Safeguarding Communities,” and providing support to jurisdictions that are awarded funding under this program. The PREA statute authorizes DOJ to create, implement, and oversee a grant program to create and enhance zero-tolerance cultures for sexual abuse and sexual harassment in confinement facilities in state, local, and tribal jurisdictions, and to support implementation of the Standards.
- Reviewing, verifying, and responding to certifications and assurances submitted by state and territorial governors. Each year, state and territorial governors and the mayor of the District of Columbia are given the option by the PREA statute to submit to DOJ either a certification that all confinement facilities under their operational control are in full compliance with the Standards, or to issue an assurance that they will use not less than 5 percent of certain DOJ grant funds to come into full compliance with the Standards in the future. States and territories that do not submit a certification or an assurance are subject to a 5 percent reduction in certain DOJ grant funds. Learn more about Governors' compliance certification required under the PREA statute.
- Leading the ongoing efforts of DOJ’s PREA Working Group to issue interpretative guidance related to the Standards. The DOJ PREA Working Group has developed and provided FAQs on the PRC website that address questions of first impression related to the PREA Standards.