Hiring and promotion decisions
Standard 115.17/115.117/115.217/115.317 prohibits agencies from hiring or promoting any employee or contractor who may have contact with inmates, detainees, or residents who:
- Has engaged in sexual abuse in a prison, jail, lockup, community confinement facility, juvenile facility, or other institution;1
- Has been convicted of engaging in forced or coerced sexual activity in the community; or
- Has been civilly or administratively adjudicated to have engaged in forced or coerced sexual activity in the community.
The standard also requires agencies to consider any incidents of sexual harassment in making decisions regarding employees and contractors and to provide information regarding such incidents to possible future institutional employers unless prohibited by law. The standard includes requirements for obtaining this information about prospective and current employees and contractors, including mandating that at least every five years agencies conduct criminal background checks of current employees and contractors who have contact with inmates, detainees, or residents. Additionally, for juvenile settings, Standard 115.317 requires a check of any child abuse registry maintained by the state or locality in which the employee would work.
[1] National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape, 77 Fed. Reg. 119 (June 20, 2012) http://www.prearesourcecenter.org/sites/default/files/library/2012-12427.pdf; For the operative definition of “institution,” see the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), 42 U.S.C. §1997.