Just Detention International

Description

The vast majority of detainees in the U.S. are housed in state prisons and county jails, and each jurisdiction has its own unique set of policies and practices. JDI receives hundreds of letters each year from inmates reporting sexual abuse from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Studies by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics confirm that prisoner rape is pervasive nationwide. JDI currently runs programs in four states -- California, Oregon, Michigan, and Texas. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice are large, especially troubled agencies. Both have unconscionably high rates of sexual violence in their prisons. The Oregon Department of Corrections, partnered with JDI, was the first state prison system to begin full implementation of national standards addressing sexual abuse in detention -- Director Max Williams estimates that the Department is now 70 percent in compliance. Putting the standards into place is also the focus of JDI's work with the Macomb County Jail, located just outside of Detroit, Michigan. California JDI, which is headquartered in California, has a long history of improving the conditions of prisoners in this state. JDI helped draft and secure the passage of the first state civil law to address sexual violence in prison -- the California Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act (SADEA) -- which was passed in 2005. JDI serves on a task force at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) that oversees the implementation of both SADEA and the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). JDI Deputy Executive Director Linda McFarlane (far right) with staff from California Correctional Institution and Women’s Center – High Desert, partners in the Paths to Recovery pilot project. Working with JDI, CDCR has become one of the first state prison systems adopting the PREA-mandated national standards , before they become mandatory. The California Correctional Institution (CCI -- a men's facility), the California Institution for Women (CIW), and the Ventura Youth Center are pilot facilities for this work, which will expand to all CDCR prisons and youth facilities in the future. As part of this effort, JDI provides extensive training and assistance to staff at CDCR prisons, and JDI staff will soon conduct a policy review for the entire system. JDI has also ensured that 31 CDCR facilities have included a local rape crisis center representative on their internal Sexual Assault Response Teams. This work builds on a pilot program -- Paths to Recovery -- at CCI and CIW, through which inmates who have been sexually abused are able to seek confidential counseling services. CCI is also the site for JDI's groundbreaking effort to improve prison policies and practices by introducing international human rights into the daily work of a state prison. Oregon In Oregon, JDI and the Oregon Department of Corrections (ODOC) are working together to make the ODOC an "early adopter" of the standards proposed by the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission.

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