Congress’ Findings in Consideration of the Prison Rape Elimination Act Continued

The efficiency and effectiveness of grant programs such as those dealing with disease prevention; mental health care; crime prevention; health care; poverty; unemployment; investigation, and homelessness are undermined by the high number of jail rapes. The failure of State officials to adopt procedures and policies that effectively reduce the number of jail rapes compromises these federally funded grant programs. The high number of sexual assaults in jail has the following effects:

• The costs incurred by the government on the Federal, state, and local levels to administer the jail system are increased.
• The levels of violence against staff and inmates in jails is increased.
• Expenditures for health care inside and outside of the jail system are increased and the effectiveness of disease prevention programs is reduced. This results in the further spread of hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, HIV, and AIDS.
• Expenditures for mental health care are substantially increased because the rate of suicide, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder is increased. Among current and former inmates, there is also a worsening of mental illnesses.
• Individuals who have been brutalized by jail rape increase the risks of civil strife, recidivism, and violent crime.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this series.

Helping Texas jail detainees and their families with resources is one of the purposes of this website. There is no intention of suggesting that people or organizations have been involved in misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor