Prison Rape Elimination Act

What is the Prison Rape Elimination Act?

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) is a federal law that was enacted by Congress in 2003 to support the detection, prevention and elimination of sexual abuse and sexual harassment in prisons, jails, juvenile facilities, community facilities, and lock up facilities.

The National Standards on Juvenile Facilities seek to ensure that agencies comply with preventing, detecting, and eliminating sexual abuse within their facilities. This is done through monitoring and audits. Audit reports and schedules can be found on our PREA Reports page.

Policy of DYS

The Ohio Department of Youth Services (DYS) has a zero tolerance for sexual abuse and sexual harassment. DYS strives to maintain a safe and secure environment for all youth in our custody through implementation of policy and procedure that has been developed in accordance with the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act standards.

Reporting Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment

Youth in our care have the right to be free from sexual abuse and sexual harassment. DYS has multiple avenues for youth, families, and staff to report allegations of sexual abuse or sexual harassment against youth.

Phone

Call the DYS Tip Line at:
(855) 577-7714

Online

Complete our online reporting form here:

Online Reporting Form Here

Mail

Write a letter to our office at:

Office of Chief Inspector
4545 Fisher Rd, Suite D
Columbus, Ohio 43228

(Please include as many details as possible including; dates, times, youth involved, DYS numbers (if known), etc.)

Stay Informed

Pursuant to the PREA standards, DYS conducts audits of its juvenile correctional facilities and community correctional facilities and the final reports of those audits are available below for review. Additionally, the survey of youth in custody is part of the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Prison Rape Statistics Program to gather mandated data on the prevalence of sexual abuse in juvenile facilities. Below is a link to past years surveys.