Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) in 2003 with unanimous support from both parties. Congress intended that PREA would provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendations, and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.
The Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) is working towards full compliance with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) of 2003 and the PREA Juvenile Facility Standards released in 2012. PREA compliance requires independent audits of each facility every three years by a PREA Department of Justice (DOJ) certified auditor. DJJ oversees eight youth facilities located in Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks, Juneau, Kenai, Ketchikan, Palmer and Nome. To date, five of these facilities have been audited and found compliant with the PREA juvenile standards and two additional audits are scheduled for late 2016. DJJ expects to be in full compliance with PREA Juvenile Facility Standards in FY17.
The overall goal of this project is to achieve and maintain statewide PREA compliance for juvenile facilities in Alaska. DJJ proposes to utilize Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention PREA Reallocation Funds to: (1) provide staff support and training on PREA regulations, policies and procedures; and (2) contract a DOJ-certified auditor to evaluate youth facilities in Anchorage and Bethel, Alaska.
NCA/NCF
