PREA annual report, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prison Rape Elimination Act ................................................................................................... 1 Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice ............................................................................. 1 Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 1 PREA Standard 115.387- Data Collection ............................................................................ 1 DJJ Established PREA Reporting Codes ............................................................................ 2
Youth-On-Youth (PY) .............................................................................................................. 2 Staff-On-Youth (PS)................................................................................................................. 2
Yearly Allegation Comparison Reports: 2013 2021 ....................................................... 2 2021 DOJ SURVEY OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE (SSV-5) ........................................................ 3
General Information: Section #1 - Data Summary.............................................................. 3 2021 DOJ Summary of Substantiated Survey of Sexual Violence Results (SSV-5) Based on Secure Facilities Only ............................................................................................ 3 2021 DOJ Survey of Sexual Violence Results (SSV-5) Based on Secure Facilities Only (74 allegations process)................................................................................................. 3
2021 PREA AUDIT METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 4 GEORGIA DJJ PREA CERTIFICATION.................................................................................. 5
Audit Year 1 of Cycle 3: Audit August 20, 2019 August 19, 2020 ................................ 5 Audit Year 2 of Cycle 3: Audit August 20, 2020 August 19, 2021 ................................ 5 Audit Year 3 of Cycle 3: Audit August 20, 2021 August 19, 2022 ................................ 6 Audit Year 1 of Cycle 4: Audit August 20, 2022 August 19, 2023 ................................ 6 Audit Year 2 of Cycle 4: Audit August 20, 2023 August 19, 2024 ............................................ 7
Corrective Actions ..................................................................................................................... 8 Agency Response ...................................................................................................................... 8
Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice addresses the auditor's concern by: .............. 8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................... 9 Publication Approval: ............................................................................................................... 9

Prison Rape Elimination Act
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was unanimously passed by Congress and signed on September 4, 2003, by President George H.W. Bush, becoming the first federal legislation to address the issue of sexual assault in a correctional setting. The Act applies to sexual abuse in all custodial corrections settings, including prisons, jails, police lockups, juvenile facilities, and community residential settings. Moreover, the Act applies to all types of sexual misconduct against juveniles, including abuse by fellow juveniles and staff.
Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice
The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) provides secure housing, programming, mental health services, health care services, and education for juveniles on probation, awaiting adjudication, or who have been adjudicated and committed to the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice.
The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice reviews data collected and aggregated pursuant to PREA standard
115.387 to assess and improve the effectiveness of the agency's sexual abuse prevention, detection, and response policies, practices, and training to include identifying problem areas; and taking corrective action on an ongoing basis.
The Georgia DJJ y e a r l y c o m p a r i s o n r e p o r t , began in FY2013. Specific information from all reports is redacted to prevent any threat to the safety and security of secure facilities, community residential programs, court service offices, and youth and staff. The PREA Annual Report redacted information concerning staff and youth personal identifiers.
Summary
During the reporting period from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) OQA database received 115 allegations of PREA incidents for a total of 115 allegations reported for CY 2021. The alleged incidents were reported from one or more of DJJ's 25 Secure Facilities, one or more of DJJ's 92 Community Service Offices, and one or more of DJJ's 75 Residential Program Providers.
Of the 115 alleged PREA incidents, 74 were reported by secure facilities. A review of 25 secure facilities revealed 18 substantiated, 46 unsubstantiated, and 11 unfounded. One (1) was reported as (a none PREA, PREA code change, or substantiated as a None PREA code). The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice is required to submit to the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Statistics and the U. S. Department of Commerce the 18 substantiated cases using the Survey of Sexual Victimization (SSV) Report form. The Office of investigations PREA Unit provides an SSV report for each substantiated case from secure facilities. The Office of Professional Development and Standards will upload/enter all required SSV reports into the Department of Justice Statistics federal database. Of the 115 alleged PREA incidents, 40 were reported by the community. A review of the 40 reported by the community revealed ten substantiated, 25 unsubstantiated, and five unfounded.
PREA Standard 115.387- Data Collection
Section (C), The incident-based data collection shall include, at a minimum, data necessary to answer all questions from the most recent version of the Survey of Sexual Violence conducted by the Department of Justice.
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DJJ Established PREA Reporting Codes
Youth-On-Youth (PY)
1. PY1 = Youth-on-Youth Unwanted, Nonconsensual or Coerced Penetration (Department of Justice SSV-5 Title: Nonconsensual Sexual Acts)
2. PY2 = Youth-on-Youth Unwanted, Nonconsensual or Coerced Non-Penetration Touching (Department of Justice SSV-5 Title: Abusive Sexual Contact)
3. PY3 = Youth-on-Youth Sexual Harassment (Department of Justice SSV-5 Title: Sexual Harassment)
Staff-On-Youth (PS)
1. PS1 = Staff-on-Youth Sexual Penetration (Department of Justice SSV-5 Title: Staff Sexual Misconduct)
2. PS2 = Staff-on-Youth Non-Penetration Touching (Department of Justice SSV-5 Title: Staff Sexual Misconduct)
3. PS3 = Staff-on-Youth Indecent Exposure (Department of Justice SSV-5 Title: Staff Sexual Misconduct)
4. PS4 = Staff-on-Youth Sexual Harassment or Voyeurism (Department of Justice SSV-5 Title: Staff Sexual Harassment)
Note: Definitions are based on the PREA standards 115.6 Definitions related to sexual abuse. 2013 2021 Yearly Allegation Comparison Reports.

Yearly Allegation Comparison Reports: 2013 2021

PREA Codes PY1 - Unwanted Penetration PY2 - Unwanted Touching (PNYo3n--PHeanraestsrmateionnt)
PS1 - Sexual Penetration PS2 - Non-Penetration (PTSo3u-chInindge)cent Exposure PS4 - Harassment Total Alleged PREA Incidents

2013 26 50
64 14 19 2 22
197

2014 13 56
58 4 23 0 29
183

2015 6 53
60 3 17 0 19
158

2016 12 30
66 7 20 1 15
151

2017 21 27
51 3 9 0 12
123

2018 7 23
56 6 13 0 12
117

2019 8 37
30 0 5 0 7
87

2020 22 55
27 6 4 1 7
122

2021 15 40
24 11 5 0 20
115

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2021 DOJ SURVEY OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE (SSV-5)

General Information: Section #1 - Data Summary

Q1 On December 31, 2020, how many facilities operated by GA DJJ held juvenile
offenders charged with or court-adjudicated for an offense? Note: Data includes only state-operated secure facilities (RYDCs & YDCs)
Q2A On December 31, 2020, the total number of male residents. Q2B On December 31, 2020, the total number of female residents Q2C On December 31, 2020, the total number of residents held in the 25 reported facilities Q3A On December 31, 2020, the total number of residents aged under 18 or younger Q3B On December 31, 2020, the total number of residents aged 18 to 20 Q3C On December 31, 2020, the total number of residents aged over 20 or older Q4A On December 31, 2020, the total number of residents admitted Note: Distinct count of
juvenile admissions between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020
Q4B On December 31, 2020, the total number of residents discharged Note: Distinct count
of juvenile releases between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020

25
832 116 948 844 104
0 3857
3946

2020.

2021 DOJ Summary of Substantiated Survey of Sexual Violence Results (SSV-5) Based on Secure Facilities Only

Incident Type

Number Reported

Youth-on-Youth Nonconsensual Sexual

00

AYcotusth-on-Youth Abusive Sexual Contact

7

Youth-on-Youth Sexual Harassment

5

Staff Sexual Misconduct

2

Staff Sexual Harassment

5

Total

17

2021 DOJ Survey of Sexual Violence Results (SSV-5) Based on Secure Facilities Only (74 allegations process).
The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice collects accurate, uniform data for every allegation of sexual abuse and harassment at state-operated juvenile facilities, privately operated secure facilities, and community programs. However, the 2021 data collection for the US Department of Justice Survey of Sexual Violence report (SSV-5) requires data from only Georgia State-operated juvenile secure facilities (Regional Detention Centers (RYDC); Youth Development Campuses (YDC).

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2021 PREA AUDIT METHODOLOGY
The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) requires that Governors must certify that their respective states are in full compliance with the standards associated with 28 CFR Part 115 (PREA), which took effect on August 20, 2012. These standards apply to state and local confinement facilities, categorized as jails and prisons, community confinement facilities, lockups, and juvenile facilities. All Georgia DJJ facilities are categorized as Juvenile Facilities. The facility types are Regional Youth Detention Centers (RYDC) and Youth Development Campuses (YDC). The agency has 25 secure facilities which are state-operated. All are covered under Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Juvenile Facility Standards. The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice contracted with US Department of Justice Certified Juvenile PREA Auditors to conduct required PREA audits. As a result, each DJJ secure facility was audited on the required 43 standards and 350 plus provisions.
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GEORGIA DJJ PREA CERTIFICATION

Audit Year 1 of Cycle 3: Audit August 20, 2019 August 19, 2020

State

Facility

GA Bob Richards RYDC GA Claxton RYDC GA Crisp RYDC GA Elbert Shaw RYDC GA Macon YDC GA Macon RYDC GA Milledgeville YDC GA Muscogee YDC

Year Cycle

2020

3

2020

3

2020

3

2020

3

2020

3

2020

3

2020

3

2020

3

Onsite Audit Schedule
Feb. 26-2, 2020 Aug. 3-4, 2020 March 4-5, 2020 Feb. 24-25, 2020 Feb. 10-11, 2020 Feb. 12-13, 2020 Aug. 5-6, 2020 March 2-3, 2020

Final Report Date

Disposition

April 21, 2020 Compliant

August 30, 2020 Compliant

May 19, 2020 Compliant

April 9, 2020 Compliant

May 19, 2020 Compliant

April 2, 2020 Compliant

August 31, 2020 Compliant

April 21, 2020 Compliant

Audit Year 2 of Cycle 3: Audit August 20, 2020 August 19, 2021

State

Facility

Atlanta YDC GA (Currently Housed at
Metro RYDC- due to construction)
GA Wilkes RYDC GA Augusta RYDC GA Waycross RYDC GA Savannah RYDC GA Rockdale RYDC GA Dekalb RYDC GA Marietta RYDC GA Cadwell RYDC

Year Cycle

Onsite Audit Schedule

Final Report Date

Disposition

2021

3

NA

NA

NA

2021

3

2021

3

2021

3

2021

3

2021

3

2021

3

2021

3

2021

3

March 8-9, 2021 March 10-11, 2021 March 22-23, 2021 March 24-25, 2021
April 5-6, 2021 April 7-8, 2021 April 19-20, 2021 April 21-22, 2021

July 28, 2021 Compliant

May 4, 2021

Compliant

May 12, 2021 Compliant

May 13, 2021 Compliant

May 19, 2021 Compliant

Aug.18, 2021 Compliant

Aug.18, 2021 Compliant

August 18, 2021 Compliant

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Audit Year 3 of Cycle 3: Audit August 20, 2021 August 19, 2022 Audit Year 1 of Cycle 4: Audit August 20, 2022 August 19, 2023
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Audit Year 2 of Cycle 4: Audit August 20, 2023 August 19, 2024
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Corrective Actions
Exit briefings were held with the Facility Director, Assistant Director, PREA Coordinator, PREA Compliance Specialist, and the PREA Compliance Manager. The auditor discussed the onsite audit. The auditor had some areas of concern and requested additional supporting documentation for background checks and sexual abuse incident team meetings. There was a corrective action regarding standard 115.313 Supervision and Monitoring section (c), each secure juvenile facility shall maintain staff ratios of a minimum of 1:8 during resident waking hours and 1:16 during resident sleeping hours, except during limited and discrete exigent circumstances, which shall be fully documented. Only security staff shall be included in these ratios. Any facility that, as of the date of publication of this final rule, is not already obligated by law, regulation, or judicial consent decree to maintain the staffing ratios outlined in this paragraph shall have until October 1, 2017, to achieve compliance. The auditor's concern was that some of the audited facilities were not meeting the 1:8 ratios consistently.
Agency Response
The agency used the guidance of the National PREA Resource Center Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) dated July 9, 2013, who counts as "security staff" for purposes of the minimum staffing ratio standard for secure juvenile facilities? According to the response, only direct-care staff will count in the mandatory minimum ratios. However, direct-care staff supervisors may generally be counted within the minimum ratios to the extent they are presently assigned to supervise residents primarily or exclusively. Other persons whose duties involve supervising and controlling residents for a portion of the day may count towards these ratios while actively supervising and controlling residents, assuming they have received appropriate training. Appropriate training generally includes training on the supervision and control of delinquent youth, including, among other things, verbal de-escalation techniques, age-appropriate defensive tactics, and crisis intervention.
Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice addresses the auditor's concern by:
1. The Training Division develops a staff curriculum that meets the training requirements of the National PREA Resource Center Frequently Asked Questions.
2. Teachers, Recreational staff, and counselors of the facilities were trained and are counted in the minimum ratios.
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Conclusion
The Department of Juvenile Justice is committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to reduce and eliminate sexual abuse and sexual harassment in our secure juvenile facilities and community residential programs. The agency works diligently to engage federal and private experts and to obtain technical assistance and resources. In addition, the Department of Juvenile Justice will continue to pursue all efforts to develop and implement "Best Practices" in our processes and systems to improve the level of sexual safety for Georgia's youth in confinement and to enhance services for the youth in our care.
Publication Approval:
Standard 115.388 Provision "C": The agency's report shall be approved by the agency head and made readily available to the public through its website or, if it does not have one, through other means. Shawanda Reynolds-Cobb Interim Commissioner, Agency Head-Approval
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