PREA

Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)

Congress passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) in 2003. The purpose of the act was to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendation and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.”


The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission was created and was given the responsibility of developing draft standards for the elimination of prison rape. Those standards were published in June 2009, and were turned over to the Department of Justice for review and passage as a final rule. That final rule became effective August 20, 2012. 

The PREA standards require all confinement facilities including residential reentry centers be audited at least every three years to assess for PREA standard fidelity. One-third of each facility operated by an agency must be audited each year and must be in total compliance. 


Audits are conducted using an instrument developed by the PREA Resource Center in conjunction with the Department of Justice. PREA audits are only conducted by Department of Justice trained and certified auditors.


Centre’s residential programs statewide strive to maintain 100% compliance with all applicable PREA standards.  Centre personnel take pride in providing a safe environment for the clients who participate in our Residential programming. Fostering a zero tolerance culture towards sexual abuse of any kind continues to be a top priority.


If you have questions regarding anything related to PREA, how Centre complies and/or is impacted, or if you wish to make a third-party (family member, friend, attorney, advocate) report of sexual abuse or sexual harassment on behalf of residents within our facilities, please contact Chris Shotley at (701) 365.4157. You may consult the PREA Resource Center at www.prearesourcecenter.org for more information about PREA.