Feature Article March 13, 2002
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NFCS hoping to set up new service asKingston agency withdraws sexual assault therapistby Jeff GreenFor several years the Sexual Assault Crisis Centre Kingston (SACCK) has provided counselling for sexual assault survivors in rural Frontenac County, at the Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) office in Sharbot Lake. Two weeks ago, that on-site counselling ceased.
According to Cindy (for confidentiality reasons SACCK workers do not give their last names), acting Regional Services Coordinator for SAACK, It was ineffective sending a worker out to Sharbot Lake for a day each week, when the services were not being used enough at that location. We have decided to implement an outreach services program instead, which includes: priority counselling for rural woman at our Kingston location; workshops to service providers in rural areas to train them to counsel survivors; and a sexual assault prevention program for area schools, special interest groups, and social services.
Cindy has been the worker coming to Sharbot Lake once a week for the past two months, replacing Diane Nesheim in the job. Nesheim had been working out of Sharbot Lake two days a week for several years, until November 14 of last year. Nesheim responded to Cindy's claim that services were not being used enough in Sharbot Lake by saying, Its not true. In fact, in my view, there is a need for someone four days a week to serve the NFCS catchment area of South, Central, and North Frontenac.
According to a work report submitted by Nesheim, she had an ongoing caseload of 9 women as of November 14, and she counselled five to six of them each week in addition to co-facilitating a group session. She also did public education work.
Linda Rush, NFCS executive director, concurs with Nesheims view, noting that For a number of years we have had a counsellor who was kept busy two days a week, and now we have no counsellor at all. We are very concerned that a significant portion of the women who used the counselling services are no longer being served. It had been the practice of the former counsellor (Diane Nesheim) to see clients in their home, but when she left, SACCK decided that this was not to happen any more.
Cindy expressed concern that the NFCS building in Sharbot Lake is not a secure space, and says that now SACCK is offering counselling in Kingston at an undisclosed, safe, woman-only space, which will alleviate the concerns of many women. We are also offering to pay the gas money for those who have to travel the distance to Kingston."
This, according to Diane Nesheim, reveals how SACCK does not understand the rural reality. It is important to note that policies that work in the city do not always work in rural areas. It is my belief that SACCK does not understand the difficulty that rural women with small children and no transportation have in trying to keep appointments at an office. Isolation is a major factor for these women, and as a result, they will have difficulty getting the help that they need.
When dealing with women who were uncomfortable going to a public building like the NFCS office in Sharbot Lake, Nesheim had a simple solution. I would go to their home.
Cindy says, Going to clients homes is outside of our mandate." She also described SACCKs rural mandate as a 50-mile radius, with Kingston in the centre. This would preclude service north of highway 7, according to Cindy.
SACCK provides rural service, which they are in the process of renaming Outreach Service, under funding from the office of the Solicitor General of Ontario, and it is assumed that when Cindy uses the word mandate, it is coming from the terms of their agreement with the Solicitor General.
This is not the case, however. Upon further questioning, SACCK spokesperson Lin told The News that "the mandate comes from our organization. Our agreement from the ministry is to provide rural service, which we are seeking to improve with our new plan."
This mandate, as SAACK describes it, would seem to be something new. When hired, Diane Nesheim says, "I was told by my coordinator that I was to go to clients homes in the rural area if required, and that I was to serve all women within the catchment area of NFCS (which includes North Frontenac). I am unsure of when this changed."
When questioned about counselling in the home, Lin from SACCK said "I cannot comment on that."
Jeannie Harrison, who works out of Sharbot Lake for the North Rural Womens Program, which is administered by Land O Lakes Social Services in Northbrook, assists women who are experiencing any sort of domestic violence. The North Rural Womens program operates a 24-hour crisis line, and helps with practical problems around domestic assault, including finding safe homes and giving court support when that is necessary. Many domestic abuse cases involve sexual assault. Jeannie Harrison says that of the 24 active clients that I have, 14 of them are also sexual assault cases. It was very helpful to me to be able to refer clients to a sexual assault therapist for counseling.
Linda Rush of NFCS is beginning the process of trying to set up a rural sexual assault counselling service, possibly in conjunction with Land O Lakes Social Services, who are also unable to offer sexual assault counselling. The need would seem to be as great or greater now than ever, as the Sharbot Lake detachment of the OPP reported that they conducted 9 sexual assault investigations in 2001, compared to 2 in 2000.
Both an OPP spokesman and Jeannie Harrison of the North Rural Womans Program say that sexual assault is not necessarily on the rise in the area; it may just be an increase in reporting that took place last year. However, Harrison also points out that the number of reported cases represents only a fraction of the total number of cases.
In order to set up a new rural assault counselling service, the two agencies will have to go to the Ontario Solicitor General for funding, and as SACCK is already receiving funding for a rural service, so there may be some rough politics ahead
Diane Nesheim hopes that any new service that is offered will be extensive enough to meet the need. There is a need for someone four days a week to serve the area, and I hope any service will be open to men as well as women, as men who have been sexually assaulted have never had service in this region, she says.
