STANDARDS FOR THE PREVENTION, DETECTION, RESPONSE, AND MONITORING OF SEXUAL ABUSE IN ADULT PRISONS AND JAILS STANDARDS FOR THE PREVENTION, DETECTION, RESPONSE, AND MONITORING OF SEXUAL ABUSE IN ADULT PRISONS AND JAILS INCLUDING SUPPLEMENTAL STANDARDS FOR FACILITIES WITH IMMIGRATION DETAINEES PREFACE Ours has been a daunting task, albeit a deeply motivating and compelling one—to provide the President, members of Congress, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services with national standards by which to detect, prevent, reduce, and punish prison rape. As we submit these standards to the Attorney General for review and approval, I and my col- leagues on the Commission believe that they are as urgently needed now as they were in 2003 when Congress mandated this groundbreaking project as part of the Prison Rape Elimination Act. Sexual abuse of incarcerated individuals remains a persistent problem, with life-altering consequences for victims, for the integrity of correctional institutions, and for fundamental principles of justice. We discuss the problem in great detail in our report; this standards docu- ment and its companion volumes are our blueprint for lasting nationwide change. The standards development process benefited from, and indeed could not have happened without, the contributions of dozens of private and governmental organizations and more than 400 individuals—corrections professionals, academics, researchers, practitioners, and survivors of sexual abuse in confinement—who provided testimony at hearings, advice at ex- pert committee and stakeholder meetings, and input during an extensive public comment period. In finalizing these standards and incorporating their expertise, our discussions have been long and lively and our debates rigorous. We are particularly grateful for the insights and lessons learned from early reformers—corrections professionals who have been working to prevent sexual abuse in their facilities since long before the passage of the Prison Rape Elimina- tion Act and who continue to do so. Each set of standards has been customized to ensure validity for particular conditions of con- finement. The members of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission are confident that the implementation of these national standards can have a substantial and salutary effect on the safety of prisons, jails, lockups, immigration detention centers, juvenile detention facili- ties, and community correctional facilities. We are proud to entrust the enactment and implementation of these standards to the many capable policymakers and professionals who will now take up the torch. It has been an honor for us to play a part in the elimination of sexual abuse in confinement. A just and civil society should strive for nothing less. The Honorable Reggie B. Walton, Chair Preface iii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................. 1 GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................................................................... 3 I. PREVENTION AND RESPONSE PLANNING .................................................................................................. 9 PREVENTION PLANNING (PP)................................................................................................................................ 9 PP-1: Zero tolerance of sexual abuse ................................................................................................................. 9 PP-2: Contracting with other entities for the confinement of inmates ......................................10 PP-3: Inmate supervision ......................................................................................................................................10 PP-4: Limits to cross-gender viewing and searches ................................................................................ 11 PP-5: Accommodating inmates with special needs ............................................................................... 13 PP-6: Hiring and promotion decisions ........................................................................................................... 13 PP-7: Assessment and use of monitoring technology ........................................................................... 15 RESPONSE PLANNING (RP) .................................................................................................................................... 15 RP-1: Evidence protocol and forensic medical exams ........................................................................... 15 RP-2: Agreements with outside public entities and community service providers ............. 17 RP-3: Agreements with outside law enforcement agencies...............................................................18 RP-4: Agreements with the prosecuting authority ................................................................................ 19 II. PREVENTION ................................................................................................................................................................. 21 TRAINING AND EDUCATION (TR) ................................................................................................................... 21 TR-1: Employee training ......................................................................................................................................... 21 TR-2: Volunteer and contractor training ..................................................................................................... 22 TR-3: Inmate education ........................................................................................................................................ 23 TR-4: Specialized training: Investigations ..................................................................................................... 24 TR-5: Specialized training: Medical and mental health care .............................................................26 SCREENING FOR RISK OF SEXUAL VICTIMIZATION AND ABUSIVENESS (SC) .....................27 SC-1: Screening for risk of victimization and abusiveness ...................................................................27 SC-2: Use of screening information ................................................................................................................ 30 III. DETECTION AND RESPONSE ...........................................................................................................................33 REPORTING (RE)............................................................................................................................................................33 RE-1: Inmate reporting ............................................................................................................................................33 RE-2: Exhaustion of administrative remedies ............................................................................................ 34 RE-3: Inmate access to outside confidential support services ......................................................... 36 RE-4: Third-party reporting .................................................................................................................................37 Table of Contents v OFFICIAL RESPONSE FOLLOWING AN INMATE REPORT (OR) ............................................................37 OR-1: Staff and facility head reporting duties............................................................................................37 OR-2: Reporting to other confinement facilities .................................................................................... 38 OR-3: Staff first responder duties .....................................................................................................................39 OR-4: Coordinated response ............................................................................................................................. 40 OR-5: Agency protection against retaliation ............................................................................................. 41 INVESTIGATIONS (IN)................................................................................................................................................42 IN-1: Duty to investigate ........................................................................................................................................42 IN-2: Criminal and administrative agency investigations ....................................................................43 IN-3: Evidence standard for administrative investigations ................................................................ 46 DISCIPLINE (DI).............................................................................................................................................................. 46 DI-1: Disciplinary sanctions for staff ............................................................................................................. 46 DI-2: Disciplinary sanctions for inmates ......................................................................................................47 MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH CARE (MM) .........................................................................................49 MM-1: Medical and mental health screenings—history of sexual abuse