TPI is filing complaints about PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) auditor failures to provide proper audits. Under PREA § 115.401(o), auditors “shall attempt to communicate with community-based or victim advocates who may have insight into relevant conditions in the facility.” TPI has seldom been contacted concerning information we have about Texas prisons, and the National PREA Resource Center, which oversees the audit process, has failed to hold auditors accountable to this requirement. TPI has developed a simple auditor tool for auditors to see current information about any unit that we have in our system, so they do not have to even contact us. They are required to list if they tried to contact others about prison information and who they contacted. We are seeing many auditors list no contacts, or contacts that are perfunctory and likely provided no information.
Content warning: Some of these letters describe threats and incidents of violence that may be disturbing. We will note whether each letter is considered a low, moderate, or high risk for being disturbing. We consider this letter to be low risk.
The following file is the TPI complaint against the auditor. The audit report by the auditor, which we feel was inappropriately considered final an accepted as documenting “compliance” with the PREA standards, can be accessed here. Some noteworthy points include:
- PREA § 115.11: The fact that 0 allegations of sexual harassment and sexual abuse over a 12-month period were deemed by Stiles Unit administration to have a greater than 50% chance of occurring is in itself enough to show that instead of “zero tolerance” of sexual abuse and sexual harassment, Stiles Unit in fact has a very high tolerance of sexual abuse and sexual harassment. That the audit was finalized based on this amazingly unbelievable claim shows that the auditor and auditing oversight process is participating in the covering up of sexual abuse and sexual harassment.
- PREA § 115.13: It is generally accepted that TDCJ experiences significant staff shortages, and TPI has a significant number of reports indicating staff shortages during the 12 months prior to the audit. This indicates the audit was deficient in finding Stiles Unit fully compliant with requirements to be adequately staffed.
- PREA § 115.15: Due to the auditor misidentifying the unit as housing only “males,” the discussion and assessment of PREA § 115.15 is deficient.
- PREA § 115.31: TPI presents a number of examples showing training, particularly in areas of effective and professional communications with LGBTI persons, is remiss. With such obvious disregard for LGBTI persons, it should be clear that Stiles Unit has difficulty meeting this standard, and certainly does not “exceed” the standard, as the auditor claims.
- PREA § 115.42: The auditor’s discussion of this standard is confusing, indicates serious misunderstanding of classification within TDCJ and at Stiles Unit, and in some areas is just wrong (apparently confusing “separate housing,” presumably protective custody under PREA, with dedicated housing for LGBTI persons). Stiles Unit also fails to keep persons separated for risk of sexual abuse adequately separate. The multiple inaccuracies in the assessment of PREA § 115.42 indicate a serious deficiency in this report.
- PREA § 115.43: The extent of the misunderstanding of TDCJ housing classification with regard to PREA protective custody in this report indicates a serious deficiency in the audit findings, and it is hard to imagine how the auditor deemed the facility “meets every provision” of this standard.
- PREA § 115.68: Discussion of this standard involves many of the same issues noted under PREA §§ 115.42 and 115.43, indicating deficiency in meeting this standard as well.
- PREA §§ 115.71 and 115.72: The auditor accepted Stiles Unit’s claim that 100% of all sexual abuse and sexual harassment allegations at the facility during the 12 months prior to the audit had less than 50% or less chance of having occurred. Such a claim is simply unbelievable. The assessment that Stiles Unit meets this standard is simply false.