Agency Policy

In 2003, the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush. PREA's intent is to eliminate sexual abuse and sexual harassment in confinement facilities through a "zero-tolerance" policy, as well as through research and information gathering. As a result, National Standards to Prevent, Detect, and Respond to Prison Rape (PREA Standards) were published in the Federal Register on June 20, 2012. The Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center has Zero Tolerance for any form of sexual abuse of any youth under DCJDC jurisdiction. This policy establishes standards in the area of prevention, detection, and response to such matters.

While PREA speaks directly to residential and detention services for DCJDC, all employees, contractors, juveniles, and volunteers are expected to have a clear understanding that the Department strictly prohibits any type of sexual relationship with an individual under Department supervision, and considers such a relationship a serious breach of the standards of employee conduct and contract compliance, and these relationships will not be tolerated.


Reporting Abuse

If you suspect sexual abuse has happened at the Delaware County Detention Center, call one of the following:


Audit

Pursuant to Section 115.401 of the PREA Standards, The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Audit of the Delaware County Detention Center was conducted on June 20,21, of 2017 by Maureen G. Raquet, Raquet Justice Consultants LLC, a Department of Justice Certified PREA Auditor for Juvenile Facilities. Our facility was initially audited during the first PREA cycle in March 25th, 2015 and was found to be in full compliance on March 25th, 2015. The Audit, conducted in 2017, was a re-audit of the facility conducted during the second PREA three year cycle. The Youth Center met all Federal Standards. The Final PREA Audit Report is accessible by following the link below.

View final audit report - 2020


Data Review for Corrective Action and Publication

In compliance with Section 115.388 of the PREA Standards, DCJDC has reviewed the data collected and aggregated pursuant to Section 115.387 in order to assess and improve the effectiveness of its sexual abuse prevention, detection, and response policies, practices and training, including:

  1. Identifying problem areas;
  2. Taking corrective action on an ongoing basis; and
  3. Preparing an annual report of its findings and corrective actions.

Also, in compliance with Section 115.389 of the PREA Standards, DCJDC shall make all aggregated sexual abuse data readily available to the public annually. To view the data, Data Review for Corrective Action and Publication.



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Delaware County, presently consisting of over 184 square miles divided into forty-nine municipalities is the oldest settled section of Pennsylvania.


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