4 2B - The Michigan Daily - New Student Edition - Fall 2004 COMMENTARY VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT SAPAC changes will provide better services Removal of survivor services at SAPAC harms survivors APRIL 8, 2004 APRIL 19,2004 BY SASHA AcHEN AND STEPHANIE VITALE There has been much said about the changes at the Sexual Assault Preven- tion and Awareness Center over the course of the last few months. We sup- port everyone's right to have his or her own opinions about this issue, and so we would like to take this opportunity to express our opinion. The changes that will take place this summer are a result of the University dedicating an increased amount of fund- ing to services for survivors of sexual violence and to educational program- ming around the issues of sexual vio- lence. The changes are also part of SAPAC's commitment to developing a coordinated community response to sex- ual violence. Rather than fragmenting services for survivors of sexual vio- lence, these changes are designed to increase networking among area organi- zations that are already serving sur- vivors of sexual violence. SAPAC has provided high-quality services for sexual violence survivors for many years, but has not had the resources to provide long-term counsel- ing to all survivors seeking services from SAPAC. SAPAC is committed to provid- ing quality counseling to all University survivors, and transferring counseling to Counseling and Psychological Services is designed to work toward this goal. The counselors who are currently employed at SAPAC will continue their work at CAPS, where they will continue to see many of their current clients, and will also be able to network with CAPS staff who serve sexual violence survivors. Because CAPS is an accredited counsel- ing agency, both therapists will also receive position upgrades, and our cur- rent part-time therapist will take a full- time position at CAPS. These changes, then, mark an increase in counseling resources available to survivors. CAPS has been providing services to sexual violence survivors for over 20 years (longer than SAPAC has been in exis- tence), and so the staff at CAPS is famil- iar with these issues. Some have expressed a concern that because CAPS also provides services to perpetrators of sexual violence, a survivor might see his or her perpetrator while at CAPS. When this situation is known to exist, CAPS can schedule the appointment times of the survivor and perpetrator so that they will not see each other and work with survivors to ensure their sense of safety. Crisis line services will be provided by SAFE House, which is Washtenaw County's service provider for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. This change will allow all crisis calls to be handled by a single organization. SAFE House is able to staff a 24-hour crisis line, so callers are able to speak with the person answering the phone right away, which means a faster response to survivors in crisis. SAPAC will provide more legal, med- ical, housing and academic advocacy services to survivors of sexual violence. By separating the roles of counselor and advocate, the new system will ensure that survivors are able to continue the therapeutic process while also pursuing academic or legal advocacy. SAPAC also continues to provide educational programming, and the University has increased resources to these programs, including raising the position of our training and education coordinator from part-time to full-time. The goal of this system is to allow multiple partner organizations to respond in a timely and compassionate way to survivors of sexual violence. See ACHEN, Page 38 BY MiA WHITE AND KATHRYN TURNOCK We realize that those without a thor- ough understanding of survivor servic- es might overlook many of the devastating barriers the proposed changes to the Sexual Assault Preven- tion and Awareness Center have and will create for survivors seeking help. The discussion of the fragmentation of SAPAC's survivor services can become complicated, which is why it is impor- tant not only to include opinion but also fact in such discourse. We'd hope that as peer educators, Sasha Achen and Stephanie Vitale would have educated themselves about the issue before pub- licly declaring their opinion in the viewpoint SAPAC changes will provide better services (04/08/04). We'd like to clear up some of the facts that were lost in the viewpoint. Counseling will no longer be avail- able at SAPAC. The crisis line at SAPAC is being shut down. Outreaches will no longer be done through SAPAC- trained volunteers and professionals. These are undeniable components of the proposal to change SAPAC. Is this a growth in services? Some would have you believe so. After speaking to the president of the University, the vice president for student affairs, the direc- tors of both SAPAC and Counseling and Psychological Services, University regents, professional staff, researchers and other experts in the field, it is our opinion that these changes are in fact a reduction of services and not a growth. The facts are quite clear: Survivor services at SAPAC will be cut. It is time to stop the disinformation campaign. The increase in education does not excuse the loss of survivor services. The increase in education initiatives is not in any way dependent on the removal of counseling and crisis intervention; in fact, for years, they have worked remarkably well together within the same organization. Achen and Vitale write, "CAPS has been providing services to sexual vio- lence survivors for over 20 years (longer than SAPAC has been in existence), and so staff is familiar with these issues." SAPAC was formed when an off- campus crisis line and CAPS existed as independent resources. It was the demand for specialized services on campus that led to the creation of SAPAC. Since then, SAPAC has become a national model for such resources. What this plan proposes is a return to what the University had almost 20 years ago and did not work. Is this what the administration would have stu- dents believe is a growth? The viewpoint claims that moving counseling from SAPAC to CAPS is working toward "providing quality counseling to all University survivors." However, there is no reason to believe that this move will in any way increase the quality of counseling and many rea- sons to believe the quality will decrease. There are important barriers that exist for survivors at CAPS. Perpetrators are served at CAPS. That risk is not simply a barrier for many seeking services but has already been a reality for survivors seek- ing services at CAPS. Achen and Vitale posit that "when the situation is known to exist," CAPS will try and work around this issue. Among other problems, this leaves unaddressed the obvious issues of first-time clients and those who do not wish to disclose about their perpetrator. We'll leave the fact that CAPS is located in the most public building on campus for another discussion. The demand for long-term services See WHITE, Page 38 4 4 I 0 I I andJ Reform I :L5Dp porn youU r menas rotis Corservative* I :uu0pm A