The standards require agencies to provide at least two internal reporting avenues and at least one way to report abuse to a public or private entity or office that is not part of the agency in order to allow inmates, detainees, and residents to remain anonymous upon request. An agency must also provide a way for third parties to report such abuse on behalf of an inmate, detainee, or resident. In addition, agencies are required to provide inmates and residents with access to outside victim advocates for emotional support services related to sexual abuse by giving them contact information for local, state, or national victim advocacy or rape crisis organizations and by enabling reasonable communication between inmates/residents and these organizations, with as much confidentiality as possible.
STANDARDS. Click on the following links to access the reporting standards for Adult Prisons and Jails, Community Confinement Facilities, Juvenile Facilities, and Lockups.
Reporting - Issues - Access to outside support services
Access to outside support services
Like the evidence protocol and forensic medical examinations standard (Standard 115.21/115.121/115.221/115/321), Standard 115.53/115.253/115.3534 recognizes the unique role of rape crisis center advocates in providing support, crisis intervention, information, and referrals to victims. This standard requires facilities to provide inmates and residents with access to victim advocates for emotional support services related to sexual abuse by supplying mailing addresses and telephone numbers of local, state, or national victim advocacy or rape crisis organizations. Facilities are required to provide access to immigrant services agencies for persons detained solely for civil immigration purposes in adult prisons, jails, or juvenile facilities. (Note that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released proposed standards for DHS confinement facilities.) The standard further requires facilities to enable reasonable communication between inmates/residents and these organizations, in as confidential a manner as possible. Juvenile facilities must also provide residents with reasonable access to their attorneys or other legal representation and to parents or legal guardians.
[4] This standard does not apply to lockups.
Reporting - Resources - General
General
- PREA Standard in Focus - 115.51 Inmate reporting, PREA Resource Center (2017).
- List of State Sexual Assault Coalitions available on the website of DOJ’s Office on Violence Against Women (2012).
- National Training Standards for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examiners, US Department of Justice (2006).
- A National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations, Adults/Adolescents, Second Edition, US Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (2013).
- Third Party Reporting Fact Sheet (2014)
- Untangling the PREA Standards: Outside Reporting, Confidential Support, and Third-Party Reporting Webinar, Linda McFarlane (2015).
- PREA Poster Templates (2016)
Reporting - Resources - Adult Prisons and Jails
Adult Prisons and Jails
- PREA and Victims Services in Jails Webinars, Just Detention International in collaboration with the National PREA Resource Center (2013).
- Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act: A Toolkit for Jails, Center for Innovative Public Policies and The Moss Group in collaboration with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (2012).
- Staff Emergency Procedures Pocket Guide, Arlington County Sheriff’s Office (2011).
Reporting - Resources - Juvenile Facilities
Juvenile Facilities
- Implementing the Prison Rape Elimination Act: A Toolkit for Juvenile Agencies and Facilities, Center for Innovative Public Policies and The Moss Group in collaboration with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (2012).
Reporting - Resources - Lockups
Lockups
- Building Trust Between the Police and the Citizens They Serve: An Internal Affairs Promising Practices Guide for Local Law Enforcement, International Association of Chiefs of Police (2010).