20200722-165734-81

The National PREA Resource Center (PRC) provided an Auditor Refresher Training at the American Corrections Association (ACA) on January 11, 2020 (located in San Diego, CA). Multiple divisions within the PRC collaborated to provide the training (i.e. Training and Technical Assistance, Audit Quality and Integrity, and Field Training Program). The training focused on PREA audit report writing as outlined in the Auditor Handbook and to meet the expectations of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and PREA Management Office (PMO).

The objectives of the training included: (1) deconstructing standards by each provision; (2) analyze the standard into its most fundamental component elements; (3) determine the type and sources of evidence that apply to each element; (4) apply a critical thinking approach to auditing standings; (5) apply critical thinking approach to implementing standards, and (6) develop a comprehensive method to apply to audit report writing. PRC Senior Advisor Marion Morgan presented and conducted an interactive 60-minute presentation (PowerPoint) providing an example of the deconstruction of provision ?115.42(a).

After the interactive presentation, a 100-minute report writing exercise was conducted with all auditors. The exercise was both an independent, partner, and group activity. The auditors were divided into six groups by table and by their certification type. Auditors were provided standard provision worksheets that correlated to their auditor certification. Adult certification auditors were assigned Prison and Jail PREA Standard provisions (115.13, 115.33, 115.51, 115.71) while juvenile and dual certification auditors worked grouped and assigned juvenile PREA Standard Provisions (115.313, 115.341) to deconstruct. The exercise worksheet also contained the Pre- Audit Questionnaire (PAQ), the Auditor Compliance Tool (ACT) for both the paper template and Online Audit System (OAS), and the Checklist of Documentation for each standard provision assignment. All PRC Team members and faculty were assigned to each table of auditors to help facilitate the discussion.

The first part of the exercise had each auditor individually deconstruct their group assigned provision into elements and write the elements into column A of the worksheet table. Auditors then collaboratively in their groups discussed and determined the number of discrete elements contained within their assigned provision (column A). The auditors were then instructed to partner up at their table to form a two-person team. The auditor teams were instructed to utilize the attached PAQ, ACT, Checklist of documents and audit report templates questions to compete for column B of the worksheet. Auditor then wrote down the types and sources of evidence to include questions the elements elicit, interview sources of information, documentation sources, as well as site observations and system testing. Once this was completed all auditors came back for a group table discussion about the evidence and information they listed and described in columns A and B to answer the auditor report template questions for their assigned provision. Lastly, all the auditor tables pick a representative at their table to report out on behalf of the group one deconstructed element (from column A) and one brainstorming evidence sources (from column B) the table agrees they found interesting and/or beneficial and provided a better understanding of the required evaluation of elements and sources of standard provision. The report out of all six tables took appropriately 40 minutes to complete.

The PRC provided an example completed adult and juvenile auditor deconstructing standards by provision worksheets to all participating auditors at the completion of the exercise. The completed resource example document provided auditors with a completed deconstructed standard provision for each provision assigned during the exercise to be able to compare and utilize in future audit reporting writing.