Screening for Risk of Sexual Victimization and for Abusiveness: Guidelines for Administering Screening Instruments and Using the Information to Inform Housing Decisions

These guidelines were developed “to screen for risk of sexual victimization and for abusiveness, including questions to be asked of inmates, residents, and detainees, and the best use of the information from the screening to inform housing decisions ... While specifics will vary by type of facility, including the age and gender of the individuals, these general principles will hold true in a wide range of contexts” (p. 2). Sections of this publication address: what the purpose of screening is and what are its limitations; what the key elements of a screening instrument are; requirements for different facility types such as prisons and jails, lockups, community confinement facilities, and juvenile facilities; developing a screening instrument; screening women for vulnerability; what the appropriate ways to use PREA screening information are--whether facilities should base housing decisions on the information gotten from the screening instrument; and what is needed for a successful rollout of a screening instrument.