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Prison Rape Elimination Act

Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Overview 

In 2003, Congress enacted the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), which established zero-tolerance for sexual abuse and sexual harassment of youth within any confinement facility of a federal, state or local government.  It was the first federal civil statute to focus on addressing sexual violence in juvenile facilities, jails, prison, lockups and other secure facilities.  Thereafter, the federal government developed and implemented national standards in August of 2013 for the detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment of prison rape.

Michigan's state run and private, contracted juvenile justice residential facilities are required to adopt and comply with juvenile facility standards (28 CFR115). The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Juvenile Justice Residential (JJR) policy mandates zero tolerance for sexual abuse and sexual harassment. Facilities must have preventative plans in place and, should allegations regarding sexual abuse or sexual harassment be made, all personnel must be appropri­ately trained to take action to rapidly restore safety, attend to and sup­port the victim, and promptly initiate a thorough investigative process. Allegation of sexual abuse or harassment may be made to MDHHS Centralized Intake at 1-855-444-3911.

Audits of each facility are required every three years to ensure compliance with PREA standards, along with annual compliance monitoring.

MDHHS Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Compliance Monitoring Flowchart

Training

Online training, tools and guidance is available for facilities at no cost.  Employee training, Effective Communication with LGBTQI youth, specialized training for investigators and medical and mental health practitioners can be accessed at the following websites:

Forms

To access PREA forms required for residential facility use, go to RESIDENTIAL CARE-JUVENILE JUSTICE FORMS

Additional PREA related resources:

For a copy of the federal PREA law, Public Law 108-79, codified as 42 USC 15601 see the PRISON RAPE ELIMINATION ACT OF 2003.

For a copy of the Juvenile Facility Standards, 28 CFR 115 see the United States Department of Justice Final Rule.