A SANE Program for Rural West Virginia
Although FRIS secured most of its startup funding from one agency, SANE program funding usually comes from multiple sources. For a discussion of funding issues, see the SANE Development & Operation Guide. A plethora of Web sites also provide information on current funding opportunities, including the following:
- Office of Justice Programs
- Office on Violence Against Women
- All federal funding opportunities
- The Foundation Center (for other federal and private funding)
FRIS Seeks Funding for the Project
FRIS received two grants for the project from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). One grant supported a feasibility study and the other helped finance the planning and implementation process. Awards were made with the understanding that FRIS would develop a project that could be sustained after this grant funding ended and replicated in other rural regions. These grants, in effect from October 2002 through September 2005, enabled FRIS to—
- Partially support staff time spent on the project.
- Use a consulting firm on a part-time basis to assist with a feasibility study and project planning.
- Hire a part-time community liaison to help plan and facilitate regional meetings and followup committee work.
- Support regional meetings and committee work, as well as SANE and advocate trainings. (Other funding helped cover training costs.)
- Contract with rape crisis centers to hire two advocate coordinators.
- Hire a part-time project administrator.
Communities should not assume that establishing a regional mobile SANE project is dependent on obtaining additional funding. Although FRIS did use grant funding to support its efforts to develop a model project, replicating the project in other regions may require considerably less of a financial investment. Instead of starting from scratch, regions can use the foundation laid by FRIS and the participating communities—the research done on mobile units, the process used to assess the feasibility of potential service areas, the structure developed for the project, the plan created for implementation, and the plethora of protocols, job descriptions and applications, contracts, and forms crafted during implementation.
Existing resources may prove sufficient to replicate the project. Under the Violence Against Women Act, as a condition of receiving STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grant funds, each state must certify that it or another governmental entity bears the full out-of-pocket cost of forensic examinations. Although many states have a designated forensic examination fund, others use their state crime victim compensation fund, or require local government entities, such as police departments or prosecutors’ offices, to pay for the exams. These funds may also be used to help pay for the costs of replicating this project. The West Virginia project accessed the state forensic examination fund to provide some revenue for the project.
In addition, hospitals may be willing to contribute to a mobile SANE project (e.g., by covering the cost of orientation trainings, quarterly SANE meetings, and project administration). Participating agencies and sexual assault response team (SART) members might offer their resources to help develop and maintain the project (e.g., for a feasibility study, regional planning meetings, writing strategic plans, and coordinating advocacy). Local colleges and student interns might be able to assist with a feasibility study. SARTs could also organize fundraising events to raise money to support trainings and equipment purchases.