Are teachers and other education workers in a PREA-covered facility subject to the criminal background records check of standard 115.17 (115.117/115.217/115.317), or the employee and contractor training requirements of standards 115.31 (115.131/115.231/ 115.331) and 115.32 (115.132/115.232/115.332)?
Education workers who are employees of the confining agency are subject to the criminal background records check requirements of standard 115.17 (115.117/115.217/115.317) and are subject to the employee training requirements of standard 115.31 (115.131/115.231/115.331).
Education workers who are not employees of the confining agency but who provide services in a PREA-covered facility on a recurring basis are considered contractors of the agency, notwithstanding the absence of a formal written contract between the education staff or the educational agency and the confining agency.
The Department has consistently indicated that, for purposes of the PREA Standards, it intends to construe the term “contract” broadly to include, among other things, formal or informal arrangements, intergovernmental services agreements, and other types of agreements to provide services to the agency. Accordingly, non-employee education staff are subject to the criminal background records check requirements of standard 115.17 (115.117/ 115.217/ 115.317) and are subject to the contractor training requirements of standard 115.32 (115.132/ 115.232/ 115.332).
If, however, a teacher or other education worker is not an employee of the confining agency and does not provide services on a recurring basis in the facility (for instance, a guest speaker or a one-time instructor who does not have unsupervised contact with inmates/residents/detainees), the PREA Standards referenced above do not require a criminal background records check or PREA training.
Revised September 28, 2015. Original posting date September 23, 2014.