Sexual Assault Response Team (XS) Program

Strength United plans to commit a qualified, full-time Sexual Assault Counselor to act as the SART Advocate to the program by screening, selecting, training, and supervising a skilled provider to work within clear job duties out of the FJC four days a week and SU's Newhall location one day each week. (The FJC is where forensic examinations are conducted for both service areas.) The Advocate will be verified bilingual and dedicated to two objectives: enhancing the current SART and improving the quality of services by assisting sexual assault victims through the entirety of the criminal justice process. The individual will be supervised by the Program Manager currently overseeing RCC services including the SART. The candidate will complete SU's 56.5 hour certified training as well as a thorough criminal background check. In terms of enhancing the efforts of the SART, Strength United's Advocate will oversee several critical improvements. To ensure a systematic approach, the Advocate will follow the CDC's model of assessing, planning, implementing, and evaluating. The Advocate will implement a confidential survey of current members to assess the SART. Next, the Advocate will complete key informant interviews to gather details about the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the SART. These data will be collated into a report that is shared with and shaped by the current SART. Based on this, the Advocate, in partnership with their supervisor and executive leadership, will develop a plan to direct enhancement of the SART. Evaluation through regular collection of SART feedback, victim input, tracking SART attendance, and assessing continuity of care for victims will be applied to continuously refine the plan. During the assessment phase, the SU and/or Advocate will initiate work to begin addressing the known weaknesses using the following strategies: Weakness Strategies Lacking continuity of care 1) Hire a SART Advocate to provide vertical advocacy. 2) Partner with the DA?s VIP unit so that VIP referred victims have the same advocate throughout the judicial process. 3) Open discussions with forensic nurse unit about continuity of care from initial exam/interview through follow-up exams/interviews. 4) Establish continuity of care as an objective of the SART with relevant strategies in the action plan. 5) Provide training to the SART regarding the value of and importance of continuity of care in improving services to victims. Lacking members from key areas 1) Survey current SART members regarding gaps in the SART. 2) Create a list based on survey results, SART best practices, and recent legislation (i.e. Penal Code Section 13898-13898.2). 3) Brainstorm with SART members regarding outreach and engagement of recommended members. 4) Partner with relevant SART members outreach to new members. 5) SU will leverage its own relationships to invite members related to Veteran?s Affairs, Campus Police, Title IX Coordinators, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, and Departments of Public Health. 6) Secure and orient new members. Inconsistent attendance & low engagement 1) Increased leadership and attention to the SART to establish that this is a time of increased utilization and visibility of the SART as gatekeepers into the system of sexual assault victim response, support, and perpetrator prosecution. 2) Revisiting, revising, and recommitting to member expectations. 3) Bring in new members with new ideas. 4) Securing the SART Advocate to lead these efforts that will increase partner willingness to recommend new actions. 5) Improving training offerings and meeting agendas so that topics are more relevant to members and support engagement. 6) Increasing member voice and decision making power, starting with the assessment phase. Strength United will provide leadership for SART efforts through several intentional actions. SU will make sure that it hires a SART Advocate with the skills required to effectively lead. These include effective communication, conflict management, organization, the ability to delegate, relationship building, and the ability to lead shared decision making. SU will continue to lead and initiate SART communication and information sharing, including planning and facilitating scheduled and ad-hoc SART meetings and trainings. SART membership will be overseen by Strength United, including outreach to potential members and communication with current members. The SART Advocate will confirm that members have the delegated authority to represent and make decisions on behalf of the agency they represent. Strength United will demonstrate its leadership by overseeing the development and implementation of a member-informed plan to improve the efficacy of the SART and the quality of services for victims. This leadership will model for members the priorities, potential, and importance of the SART. Strength United has a plan for providing training to SART members. SU will continue to provide ongoing training to SART members on the dynamics of sexual assault and best practices for working with victims. Strength United will ask SART members what training topics will be valuable to them. This list will drive training plans, with a 2-3 hour training held at least twice a year for the SART. SU will invite SART members to quarterly trainings already being hosted by Strength United; these include trainings on cultural diversity, human trafficking, and avoiding burnout. Training will be provided within monthly SART meetings, starting with a presentation of current statistics related to sexual violence as well as presentations by members describing their role and services provided, as well as any referral processes. The Advocate will create and implement a new member SART orientation. The Advocate and outreach volunteers will travel to SART organizations to provide training on the role of the SART, how the SART process works, services available to victims, and other relevant topics requested. These trainings will include law enforcement role calls and disseminating wallet cards for officers to use as a quick reference when working with victims of sexual assault. The SART Advocate will act as a Sexual Assault Counselor (SAC) and will provide survivors with services including crisis intervention, follow-up, accompaniments, and advocacy. Each service is discussed in detail below, but the general plan on how the SART Advocate will be called upon to provide services is similar for all of the services. Victims are primarily referred to access Strength United via SU's 24-hour, seven-day-a-week telephone crisis line that is staffed by SACs. In the case of forensic accompaniments, the SAC on the hotline receives the notice from the forensic nurse that law enforcement and a victim are on their way to the FJC. The SART Advocate will be assigned as the SAC for initial forensic interviews and exams, as those are the clients most likely to enter the criminal justice process. Because SU provides 60-80 accompaniments each month, the SART Advocate?s caseload will be managed by their supervisor to ensure high quality service provision and reduce the risk of burnout. The SART Advocate will provide SAC services for each client that they have initial contact with and will support those clients throughout the criminal justice process. The SART Advocate?s supervisor is an LCSW, which will support the exploration of vicarious trauma as well as the safety and needs of survivors. All hotline calls are responded to with immediacy, and no caller ever waits more than 10 minutes. Because of SU?s high volume of volunteers and ability to fully staff the hotline with qualified counselors, it is extremely rare that a caller has to wait more than 1-2 minutes. There is a licensed clinician accessible to all SACs on each shift. The SART Advocate will also access this clinical support as needed to facilitate their work. SU provides a location in each service area that maintains normal business hours (with the FJC hub maintaining extended hours including evenings and Saturdays) and has SACs available at all times for survivors who drop in. The SART Advocate will be bilingual Spanish-speaking to ensure effective communication. The SART Advocate will provide timely and trauma-informed crisis intervention to sexual assault victims, using best practices. The Advocate will be trained to assist clients in viewing their adaptions to the assault as a normal response to an abnormal event. The Advocate will help victims in crisis recognize and correct temporary affective, behavioral, and cognitive distortions brought on by traumatic events; as without addressing faulty cognitions, the survivor might feel helpless and hopeless. The Advocate will utilize psychological first aid by providing contact and engagement, safety and comfort, stabilization, information gathering, practical assistance, connection to supports, and linkage with collaborative resources, as well as assessing and addressing coping and current needs and concerns. These strategies will allow the Advocate to quickly build a working alliance with the survivor. Related to this, the Advocate will provide follow-up services to survivors, following related best practices including preferred language provision. Re-contact attempts are conducted within 24-72 hours of initial contact, based on survivor need and preference. Messages are only left if the client has approved. At the time of follow-up, a general check-in is completed; safety is assessed as are emerging questions and unmet needs. The Advocate will provide additional crisis intervention, advocacy, information, and referrals as needed. Emotional support is also provided as a means of letting the victim know that they are not alone. Strength United is committed to providing accompaniment services to sexual assault victims and utilizes best practices. The Advocate will undergo extensive training including mock accompaniments and will be mentored during their first accompaniment. Accompaniment services will be provided to the FJC, hospitals, law enforcement agencies, district attorneys' offices, court proceedings and other locations as indicated by the needs of the survivor. The SART Advocate will be the sole advocate working with clients referred to SU by the DA?s VIP program. The SART Advocate, will be trained on their specific role in the judicial and forensic process and conscientious about providing only those services that are within their scope. With the SART Advocate stationed on-site, there will be no wait time for accompaniments at the FJC during their scheduled hours and a 30 minute response time to other locations. In addition, Strength United will continue to provide effective, 24-hour advocacy services to sexual assault victims, using best practices. Strength United is committed to empowering victims to act on their own behalf if that is appropriate, healing, and preferred by the victim. SU also embraces its role of providing advocacy and intervening with agencies or individuals on behalf of the victim. This is always done in partnership with the victim and only after their interests, priorities, and agreement with the plan have been secured. The addition of the SART Advocate will enable Strength United to provide vertical advocacy for survivors, which will align synergistically with the VIP?s vertical prosecution approach. In sum, the addition of a SART Advocate to Strength United?s Sexual Assault Services program will improve the quality of services for individual victims through stronger continuity of care. The SART Advocate will also improve the quality of life for the communities served through the improved response of an enhanced SART, including a more coherent criminal justice process through vertical prosecution, vertical advocacy, and a more coordinated response. The goal is to ameliorate the impact of sexual violence through effective services while preventing further assaults through perpetrator accountability and the pursuit of justice. Strength United has the capacity to maximize the impact of this funding opportunity. Continuity of care and enhancing the existing SART have been unmet priorities for years. SU is so enthusiastic about this opportunity to bridge these gaps in Strength United?s Sexual Assault Services program. If selected for funding, Strength United is committed to meeting and exceeding CalOES' expectations in fulfilling the objectives of this opportunity. We can't wait to begin this important work.