A warden’s perspective – What are the Do’s, Don’ts and Should Have’s?

1. A warden’s perspective –What are the Do’s, Don’ts and Should Have’s?

2. FCI Gilmer is a Medium security facility housing approximately 1800 inmates with an adjacent Minimum security prison camp housing approximately 130 inmates located in Gilmer County, West Virginia. The facility has an authorized complement of 313 staff.

3. the audit tool and the audit experience: • Reading and understanding the law and policy surrounding PREA. • Designating the right staff member to be the PREA coordinator and make sure they have the available time and understand the importance of the program.

4. The audit tool and experience continued: • Reading and understanding the audit tool, then make sure to have an adequate response with each step. • Make sure staff are not only well trained, but can speak PREA. Be aware staff will not want to talk about it. • Make sure the inmate population has a working knowledge of PREA, and can also talk about it. Inmatesespecially don’t want to talk about it.

5. The audit tool and experience continued: • Because this was the first audit there were many things that occurred more last minute than would have been preferred. • Maintain flexibility. • Not knowing if the auditors will tour together or separately, ensure you have contingencies in place for each scenario.

6. Challenges to preparation: • Training, Training, Training. Making the time and putting deadlines on all staff responsible to receive training. • Dual preparation of ACA and PREA audits. • Knowing what to expect with the ACA auditor, however, PREA auditor was a different case. Each step will be reviewed.

7. Challenges to preparation Continued: • The great unknown; besides walking and talking, training our staff, and making sure all steps were answered in the questionnaire, what were we missing? • Making sure we were prepared for what we knew would occur. • Lists of inmates and staff available for random interviews. If possible try to receive the list of candidates as early as possible. We received the list on Tuesday morning, which caused a backlog to scheduling.

8. CHALLENGES TO PREPARATION CONTINUED: • Identifying and making available the numerous staff needed for the mandatory and random interviews. • Deciding the entire staff had to receive another set of training in less than a week before the audit. Have a plan for last minute changes. • Questioning if the paperwork we are preparing for review is what the auditor wants to see?

9. Challenges to preparation Continued: • If we haven’t provided what the auditor is asking for, will he think we are trying to hide something? • Do we provide clean or redacted copies of sensitive documents? • Always reassure staff to not get scared of PREA. PREA-PHOBIC

10. The results, were they expected? • Went through the tour at lightning speed in order to begin the actual audit process. • In retrospect we should have considered splitting up the auditors in order to have the PREA auditor on interviews and paperwork review sooner. • After the Audit-realized the questionnaire and the auditor’s tool had discrepancies.

11. What went well? • Staff were very accommodating during the PREA interview process. • Auditors were professional and receptive during the process. • From a purely logistical stance; 15+ ACA, DOJ, BJA, Program Review, Bureau Central Office staff, and West Virginia DOC staff on the tour. We didn’t lose anybody.

12. Doing it in conjunction with ACA accreditation plus/minus? • This process will/can work well with adjustments made to the tour and schedules of the two auditors. I believe it will be difficult for one auditor to accomplish this in the timeframe allocated.