Massachusetts Department of Public Health:

Community Health & Prevention

Division of Violence & Injury PreventionSexual Assault Prevention and Survivor

Services

This poster presentation was supported by funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC or the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Practicum Setting

The mission of Sexual Assault Prevention and Survivor Services (SAPSS) is to change social norms that foster sexual violence, to encourage a climate where sexual assault is not tolerated, and to promote and enhance effective and accessible services for all survivors of sexual assault. To accomplish this mission, SAPSS:

• Advocates for sexual assault prevention and survivor needs statewide in the development of policies and programs, and provides information and technical assistance to other agencies, community organizations, and the public at large;

• Collects and analyzes data on sexual assault and evaluates sexual assault survivor services and community education programs; and,

• Fosters collaborations with other state and community organizations, such as Jane Doe, Inc.: The MA Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, to maximize the effective use of resources and achieve program goals toward the elimination of sexual assault.

http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/gov/departments/dph/programs/community-health/dvip/violence/sapss/

Objectives

As a member of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Survivor Services (SAPSS) team at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, I worked on a variety of projects from August 2012 through May 2013. Projects were assigned to correspond with the following objectives:

• Support a statewide mission to use evidence based prevention programs and to develop the capacity of Rape Crisis Centers;

• Collaborate with experts to provide the most current thinking in the field to service providers;

• Assist the Governor’s Council on Sexual and Domestic Violence; and,

• Develop and analyze surveys to inform the SAPSS statewide mission as per CDC requirements.

Key Projects

• Governor’s Council to Prevent Domestic and Sexual Violence:• Higher Education Committee• Disabilities Committee

• Jane Doe Inc. and MADPH sponsored working groups: • E-learning opportunities for Rape Crisis Centers• Medical Advocacy and the role of gender

• Data cleaning for department Epidemiologist:• Rape Crisis Incident Report Forms, Sexual Assault Prevention

Outreach and Education Activity Report Forms (ARF), RCC Monthly Service Delivery Form (MSDR)

• Implementation of CDC surveys to assess local organization evaluation capacity and MADPH survey to assess technical assistance activities

Results

• A summary report and presentation of results from all CDC and MADPH surveys (to be finalized on 4/23 and will present on 5/7 at state provider meeting)

• Draft letter from the Lt. Governor to all college/university President's regarding the implementation of Title IX (send date is still TBA)

• Updated version of the 'Healthy Relationships, Healthy Sexuality and Disability Guide' co-sponsored by MADPH and the Department of Developmental Services (in production)

• A summary of the inclusion of men in medical advocacy (complete)

• Inventory of sanctioned e-learning resources for pre-service crisis counselor training (complete)

• Supported data collection process and produced review report to department epidemiologist (complete)

Governor’s Council to Prevent Domestic and

Sexual Violence

Higher Education Committee

Council Members

• Boston University

• Tufts University

• Assumption College

• Lasell College

• Mt. Ida College

• Bridgewater State University

• Stonehill College

• Merrimack College

• Boston Area Rape Crisis Center*

• UMass Amherst, Center for Women and Community*

• Futures Without Violence

• Health Imperatives

• Victim’s Rights Law Center

• Department of Higher Education

• Massachusetts Department of Public Health

• Jane Doe, Inc.* Members serve as committee chairs

Population & Background

• There are more than 630,000 undergraduate and graduate students in Massachusetts at 133 public and private colleges and universities.

• The Department of Justice reports that 1 in 5 women are sexually assaulted while in college.1

• In April 2011, the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights issued a Dear Colleague Letter directed at the administrations of every college and university in the US;• The letter was intended to prompt colleges and universities to review

and revise policies and procedures addressing sexual misconduct, stalking and intimate partner violence, particularly as those forms of gender-based violence constitute gender discrimination under Title IX.

1. Krebs, Christopher P., Et Al., The Campus Sexual Assault Study: Final Report xiii (Nat’l Criminal Justice Reference Serv., Oct. 2007), available at http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/221153.pdf.

Objectives• Work with committee members to identify goals of the

committee.

• Assist with drafting and finalizing letter to presidents of all college/universities in Massachusetts to reinforce the messages in the Dear Colleague Letter.

• Develop letter distribution plan to institutions and supporting organizations.

• Create a campus resource guide with locate domestic and sexual violence agencies to include with the letter.

• Shepherd letter through review process and assist in the distribution:• Mailing process for hard copies of the package to all university

administrators.• Email process for e-version of package to all supporting agencies.

Results

• Draft version of the letter was submitted to the Lieutenant Governor’s office in late February.

• Intention was to mail letters to university presidents and administrators in April to coincide with Sexual Assault Awareness month.

• Letter has been approved by the Department of Higher Education, still waiting for approval by the Lieutenant Governor’s office.

• Survey finalized and entered in Survey Monkey. The survey link will be distributed with the letter along with completed resource guide.

Next Steps & Recommendations

• Pending the distribution of the letter the following activities will be planned:• Trainings and workshops for college administrators to

focus on topics related to domestic and sexual violence prevention.

• Using the survey results, highlight best practices and promising initiatives at selected colleges/universities.

• Recommendations: • Utilize the survey results to create a state of the

commonwealth report summarizing prevention programming on college campuses and best practices related to policies.

CDC Rape Prevention Education (RPE) Program

Results from the CDC RPE Program Local Evaluation Capacity Survey, Local Prevention

Program Inventory Survey, and Technical Assistance Survey

CDC RPE Program Background

RPE program prevention principles include:• Preventing first-time perpetration and

victimization;• Reducing modifiable risk factors while

enhancing protective factors associated with sexual violence perpetration and victimization;

Using the best available evidence when planning, implementing, and evaluating prevention programs;

• Incorporating behavior and social change theories into prevention programs;

• Using population-based surveillance to inform program decisions and monitor trends; and

Evaluating prevention efforts and using the results to improve future program plans.

RPE current activities include:• Implementing primary prevention

strategies such as engaging bystanders, educating youth about healthy relationships, and changing social norms;

• Operating statewide and community hotlines;

Building state and local capacity for program planning, implementation, and evaluation;

• Implementing their state sexual violence primary prevention plan; and

Assessing state system and

local organization evaluation

capacity.

http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/rpe/

Objectives

• Implement CDC surveys using Survey Monkey to ensure 100% response rate from 17 Rape Crisis Centers receiving RPE funding.

• Develop survey to evaluate technical assistance services provided by the state coalition (funded by MADPH).

• Collect and analyze survey responses. Report key findings to SAPSS department and present findings at state provider meeting on May 7th.

Key Survey Findings

Recommendations