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Family Service Agency gets funds
The money will allow rape-victim support groups to resume this fall.
YOUNGSTOWN — The Rape Information and Counseling Service of the Family Service Agency has received $39,922 in federal stimulus money that will enable the program to reinstate education and support groups and expand victim-advocacy services.
“To me, the significance is we’re able to enhance some of the services we already offer, hopefully to serve more victims,” said Ellen Taylor, program director since 1992.
“We’re able to increase services to the public for at least 15 months,” she said of the program, which has served Mahoning County since 1974.
The one-time, nonrenewable grant is part of a total of $1.2 million going to 29 crime-victim service programs in 21 Ohio counties, according to Ohio Atty. Gen. Richard Cordray.
The money went to programs that combat violence against women and Internet crimes against children, assist crime victims and improve the criminal-justice system.
The programs selected for funding were chosen from 122 proposals that made more than $6.2 million in requests for the money.
“The number of requests we received confirms the great level of need among those people in our communities who have fallen victim to criminal activity,” Cordray said.
The stimulus money is coming to Mahoning County’s Rape Information and Counseling Service through the state attorney general’s office under the federal Victims of Crime Act.
The local program, which also receives funds from the Mahoning County Mental Health Board and Akron Children’s Hospital, had a $119,620 budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The stimulus money is being used to expand the hours of a child advocate at the Tri-County Child Advocacy Center on Fifth Avenue from part-time to full-time status. Professionals at that center interview and examine children believed to have suffered physical or sexual abuse.
The stimulus money is also being used to pay a newly hired, part-time education and support group facilitator, who will resume meetings of those groups this fall after a three-year hiatus. The hiatus was due to lack of funds and personnel.
During the late 1990s, the Rape Information and Counseling Service had three full-time employees and one part-time employee and three on-call, after-hours crisis workers, but its staff declined due to a loss of grant funding. Today, it has two full-time employees and one part-time employee and two after-hours crisis workers, Taylor said.
A representative of the program meets sexual assault victims after being notified of the victim’s arrival at a local hospital emergency room at any time of the day or night.
The program also accompanies victims to court when they testify against their alleged attackers and counsels victims of sexual abuse that occurred years or decades ago, Taylor said.
All of the program’s services are free of charge to all sexual assault victims and their families, regardless of income.
Facts about the Rape Information and Counseling Service:
It is a program of the Family Service Agency of Youngstown, which is a private, nonprofit social-service agency at 535 Marmion Ave. on the South Side of Youngstown.
The program provides advocacy services to victims of rape and other forms of sexual assault.
All services are confidential and free of charge for all victims and their families.
The program provides 24-hour crisis intervention for victims in hospital emergency rooms within one hour of being notified of their arrival.
It offers assistance and advocacy through police interviews and court proceedings.
It provides short-term counseling and will soon reinstate support groups.
The staff consists of licensed counselors and social workers and trained volunteer advocates.
The program is accredited by the Ohio Domestic Violence Network and the Alliance Against Sexual Violence.
Its 24-hour phone number is (330) 782-3936.
Source: Family Service Agency