PREA Program: Strategic Support for PREA Implementation
Active
- Assistance listing
- 16.735
- Agency
-
Office of Justice Programs
Department of Justice
- Grant awards
- 341 $170,657,736 in federal obligations
Program facts
- Also known as
- Prison Rape Elimination Act
- Assistance types
-
- Project Grant
- Cooperative Agreement
- Formula Grant
- Block Grant
- Treasury account
-
- 15-0404-0-1-754
- More information
Program details come from SAM.gov Assistance Listings. Updated . Grant award figures come from USAspending.gov.
About this program
The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs administers the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Program: Strategic Support for PREA Implementation (CFDA 16.735), which funds state, local, and tribal correctional agencies and facilities to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse and sexual harassment and achieve compliance with National PREA Standards. The most recent grant award was dated October 1, 2024.
This program has been active for two decades, with 341 total federal grant awards spanning from 2004 to 2024. Award activity has fluctuated significantly in recent years: the program issued 26 awards in 2020, 20 in 2021, 77 in 2022, 44 in 2023, and only 3 in 2024. Recent grant opportunities remain open and accessible to eligible applicants.
The program funds concrete activities including staff training and capacity-building for PREA compliance; facility audits and corrective action plans; installation of surveillance systems and physical plant upgrades; implementation of learning management systems for staff and inmate education; victim support services and counseling; investigations training for sexual abuse response teams; and technical assistance to achieve and sustain compliance with the 43 national PREA standards. Awarded funding has supported microgrant programs to protect vulnerable populations including LGBTQ+ people, people with serious mental illness, survivors of trauma, and youth incarcerated in adult facilities.
Funding is distributed predominantly through Project Grants (48 percent of awards) and Formula Grants (45 percent), with smaller shares of Block Grants (6 percent) and Cooperative Agreements (1 percent). The Bureau of Justice Assistance leads by award count with 145 awards obligating $81.1 million federal dollars, followed by the Office of Justice Programs with 111 awards at $50.9 million, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention with 84 awards at $38.5 million federal dollars. Combined federal dollars obligated across the program total $170.7 million, with an additional $21.3 million in non-federal cost-share or matching funds.
Representative recent awards illustrate program scope: Urban Institute's Cooperative Agreement (Oct 2024, $3.387 million) will competitively award up to $50,000 microgrants to approximately 25 state, local, and tribal confinement agencies for interventions protecting vulnerable populations and reducing overly restrictive approaches. Guam Department of Youth Affairs received a Project Grant (Oct 2024, $500,000) to hire a PREA program coordinator and youth service worker assistants to increase supervision and integrate PREA standards into daily operations. Nevada Division of Children and Family Services received a Project Grant (Oct 2024, $1 million) partnering with the Moss Group to address staffing ratio compliance through a comprehensive hiring, training, placement, and retention approach.
Multiple grant opportunities remain open or recently posted. BJA FY26 Investigating and Prosecuting Sexual Assaults in Confinement Facilities Program (due Sep 23, 2026) supports state, local, and tribal investigative and prosecutorial capacity. BJA FY25 Invited to Apply for the Prison Rape Elimination Act Resource Center (due May 6, 2026) is a Cooperative Agreement supporting DOJ's audit function and technical assistance mission. BJA FY25 Investigating and Prosecuting Sexual Assaults program (due May 8, 2026) remains open with extended deadlines.
Objective and description
- Objective
Program goal(s) name: Improve correctional facilities' efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse and sexual harassment. Program goal(s) description: Increase staff capacity, promote integration of PREA Standards, and achieve and maintai
- Description
This program assists state, local, and tribal correctional agencies and facilities to prevent, detect, and respond to sexual abuse and sexual harassment and implement and achieve compliance with the National Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Standards.
Eligibility
- Length and time phasing of assistance
See the current fiscal year's solicitation available at the Office of Justice Programs web site at https://www.ojp.gov/funding/explore/current-funding-opportunities and/or https://bja.ojp.gov/program/prison-rape-elimination-act-prea/funding.
How to apply
- Preapplication coordination
The applicant is also required to submit documentation that includes organizational experience, name of grantee agency or fiscal agent, identification of management structure, letters of support/commitment and/or memoranda of understanding, and description of previous collaboration. See the current fiscal year's NOFO available at the Office of Justice Programs web site https://www.ojp.gov/funding/explore/current-funding-opportunities.
- Criteria for selecting proposals
Criteria for selecting proposals is determined as part of the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).
- Award procedure
All final award decisions will be made by the Assistant Attorney General, unless a statute explicitly authorizes award decisions by another official or there is written delegation of authority to another official. For successful applicants, JustGrants will send a system-generated email to the Application Submitter, Authorized Representative, and Entity Administrator with information on accessing their official award package in JustGrants. The award package will include key information (such as funding amount and period of performance) as well as award conditions that must be followed. The Authorized Representative for the entity should accept or decline the award within 45 days of the notification.
- Time to approval or disapproval
The review procedure for applications is specified in the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) and generally includes eligibility and responsiveness, merit, programmatic, budget, and risk reviews.
- Renewals
In some cases, award periods may be extended if specific criteria are met. For details, please review the discussion of no-cost extensions in the Criteria for Award Extension section of the Department of Justice Grants Financial Guide available at https://www.ojp.gov/funding/financialguidedoj/overview
Grant opportunities
Show all 23
Grant awards
Latest 10 of 341 listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Top recipients by federal obligations
| Rank | Recipient | Federal obligations | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Impact Justice | $52,291,455 | 31% |
| 2 | Florida Department Of Juvenile Justice | $4,708,255 | 3% |
| 3 | New York State Division Of Criminal Justice Services | $4,454,959 | 3% |
| 4 | Community Resources For Justice, Inc. | $3,557,456 | 2% |
| 5 | The Urban Institute | $3,387,500 | 2% |
| 6 | Ohio Department Of Youth Services | $3,266,272 | 2% |
| 7 | Maine Department Of Corrections | $1,890,469 | 1% |
| 8 | Department Of Public Safety Missouri | $1,744,671 | 1% |
| 9 | Crime & Delinquency Pa Commission On | $1,739,553 | 1% |
| 10 | Department Of Corrections Kansas | $1,716,268 | 1% |
10 of 145 recipients listed here. See the rest on GovTribe.
Federal obligations by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Federal obligations |
|---|---|
| FY2026 | $515,912 |
| FY2025 | $2,270,125 |
| FY2024 | $10,051,138 |
| FY2023 | $13,548,500 |
| FY2022 | $8,372,319 |
| FY2021 | $1,278,668 |
| FY2020 | $3,521,730 |
| FY2019 | $756,330 |
| FY2018 | $7,042,749 |
| FY2017 | $714,617 |
| FY2016 | $59,298 |
| FY2015 | $11,440,938 |
| FY2014 | $5,737,548 |
| FY2013 | $3,973,814 |
| FY2012 | $3,191,560 |
| FY2011 | $9,879,161 |
| FY2010 | $26,000,000 |
| FY2007 | $3,805 |
| FY2006 | $21,570,251 |
| FY2004 | $10,006,748 |
Show all 20
Quick answers
What is Assistance Listing 16.735?
Assistance Listing 16.735 is PREA Program: Strategic Support for PREA Implementation, a federal grant program run by Office of Justice Programs (Department of Justice).
What is the CFDA number for PREA Program: Strategic Support for PREA Implementation?
Its CFDA number is 16.735: Assistance Listing numbers were called CFDA numbers before 2018.
How much funding has Assistance Listing 16.735 awarded?
341 grant awards under 16.735 have obligated $170,657,736 in federal funds to 145 recipients.
Who receives the most funding from 16.735?
The recipients obligated the most under PREA Program: Strategic Support for PREA Implementation are Impact Justice ($52,291,455), Florida Department Of Juvenile Justice ($4,708,255) and New York State Division Of Criminal Justice Services ($4,454,959).
How much did 16.735 obligate in fiscal year 2025?
Grants under 16.735 obligated $2,270,125 in federal funds in fiscal year 2025.
Are there open grant opportunities under 16.735?
No opportunity listed under 16.735 is open now. The latest, BJA FY26 Investigating and Prosecuting Sexual Assaults in Confinement Facilities Program, was posted on August 13, 2026.
On GovTribe
See this program's full record
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