1. 2017 VOCA National Training Conference Washington, DC
Oh, the Possibilities! Multidisciplinary, Best Practice Approaches to Service Provision for Incarcerated Survivors of Sexual Abuse
2017 VOCA National Training Conference
Washington, DC

2. Just Detention International
JDI is a health and human rights organization that seeks to end sexual violence in all forms of detention.
Core goals:
Hold government officials accountable
Change public attitudes about sexual violence behind bars
Ensure survivors get the help they need

3. JDI’s Core Principal

4. Special Thanks
This project is supported by a grant awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice.
The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed herein are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime.

5. Workshop Objectives
Understand the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to victim services provision
Prepare to utilize victim services approaches that reach beyond PREA’s requirements
Learn to tailor programs and funding solicitations to promote meaningful service provision for incarcerated survivors

6. Workshop Agenda PREA Victim Services Standards
Using a Multidisciplinary Approach
The VOCA Rule Change as Opportunity
Program Examples
Group Exercise
Question & Answer
Michelle-Lael Norsworthy, a transgender woman and survivor of sexual abuse in a CA prison. Michelle-Lael is a member of JDI’s Survivor Council.

7. Healing is for Everyone
Resources and Template Materials
TTA
Regional Trainings
Online Trainings & Guides
Fact Sheets
Give an overview of the project

8. Healing is For Everyone
I have always been a loving and caring woman. However, because of the sexual abuse, a part of me is broken. Sadly, it can never be healed. The nightmares, constant fear, and panic attacks in groups of people make it impossible to heal.
Ophelia: Like other transgender women in men’s prisons, Ophelia was repeatedly sexual assaulted by inmates and staff. Female corrections officers singled Ophelia out and sexually assaulted her multiple times. She bravely reported these crimes, but Ophelia was never offered any treatment. In her testimony, she describes how this violence has shattered her life.
An officer who raped her was terminated; however she was never provided victim services to help her begin to heal.
Ophelia, survivor of sexual abuse in detention and advocate for healthcare for incarcerated survivors.

9. The VOCA Rule Change and Incarcerated Survivors
Start with a question about the impact of the VOCA rule change and who has been involved in programs that make VOCA funds available to serve incarcerated survivors?
Illustration by Dola Sun for Vice.com

10. Needs Assessment: Findings
State coalitions’ capacity
Confidentiality
Risk of trauma
Additional guidance needed
Photo by California Department of Corrections.

11. My Name is Joe

12. Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Prisons and Jails
Roughly 200,000 adults are sexually abused behind bars every year in the U.S.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2011–12, May 2013.

13. Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Confinement
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sexual Victimization Reported By Former State Prisoners, 2008, May 12, Graphic by Just Detention International.

14. PREA Victim Service Standards
Resource Sharing Project
March 14th - 16th, 2017
PREA Victim Service Standards
Keep people safe
Protect survivors from abusers
Provide multiple ways to report
Offer medical and mental health care
Increase accountability
Provide survivors access to victim services

15. PREA Standards Keep people safe Protect survivors from abusers
Provide multiple ways to report
Offer medical and mental health care
Increase accountability
Provide survivors access to victim services

16.  Provide access to victim services Forensic exam
Accompaniment at forensic exams
Accompaniment at investigatory interviews
Confidential follow-up services
Confidential emotional support via phone or letter
The standards mandate that corrections facilities must offer all survivors of sexual abuse a free medical forensic exam either on site or at the hospital.
The standards also require that survivors have access to a victim advocate for emotional support, information, and referrals at every stage of the process following a report.

17. QUESTION
ANSWER
Does the inmate have to report in order to receive services?
No, rape crisis services are for all survivors, even if they do not report 
Do advocates have to report abuse?
Advocates follow the same confidentiality standards as in the community
Does PREA cover abuse that happened prior to incarceration?
Yes - PREA applies to prior incidents of abuse
Does PREA cover sexual harassment too?
Yes - PREA applies to
sexual harassment also
Let’s cover some frequently asked questions regarding PREA.
Discussion: ask each question and give participants an opportunity to guess the correct answers before revealing the answer.
Rape crisis centers must comply with state mandates on confidentiality
All staff members who work in corrections facilities are mandated to report all crimes in the facility, but rape crisis advocates are not
The PREA standards do not change the legal and ethical principles that guide rape crisis services

18. Resource Sharing Project
March 14th - 16th, 2017
Resource Sharing Project

19. Clarifications
Rape crisis centers must comply with state mandates on confidentiality
Rape crisis center staff support good investigations
The PREA Standards are binding on corrections agencies

20. Multidisciplinary Approaches: Who Should Be at the Table?
Victim advocates
State coalition
Facility officials
Prisoners
Law enforcement
It may not be possible to have incarcerated survivors always there at the table physically, but certainly their concerns should be foremost. Info on prisoners’ views can be gathered through informal discussion groups (which ideally should be conducted by the advocates or other outside group), thru asking for an inmate representative committee’s opinion on PREA-related educational materials that are going to be circulated and involving inmates as peer educators, and distributing surveys or assessments that inmates can fill out about their views on whether a facility is safe, whether they are aware of the victim services that are available and feel comfortable using them, JDI’s survivor council, involving them in speaking appearances.
Maribel Reister, a member of JDI’s Survivor Council, with her father.

21. Program Examples

22. A Word About MOUs
Image: Dreamstime.com

23. Interactive Exercise
“I had no safe way to report my assault, no place to get outside counseling, and no information about my rights. I can’t go back and change what happened to me in prison – but I can help make sure that it never happens again.”
How can VOCA be used to promote state-wide multidisciplinary and best practice model programs around the country?
Jan Lastocy, member of JDI’s board member and Survivor Council.

26. www.justdetention.org/ advocate-resources
Advocates Manual
SART Toolkit
Archived Webinars
Technical Assistance Request Form
PREA Resource Center: prearesourcecenter.org
Advocate Resources:
advocate-resources

27. Resource Guide for Survivors
Add your agency to JDI’s Resource Guide for Survivors of Sexual Abuse Behind Bars: bit.ly/VDap7j
To add your agency to the Resource Guide please complete the form found at:

28. For More Information
For additional information, please visit JDI’s Advocate Resource page: Direct questions to: For more information about Just Detention International, visit Connect with JDI: