Media > Newsletters > On the Job: Criminal Justice Update > Fall 2014 > Funding benefits Ohio’s rape crisis programs
On the Job 
Criminal Justice Update
Funding benefits Ohio’s rape crisis programs
9/29/2014
Rape crisis programs are better positioned to help victims as a result of increased funding made available through the Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Services Expansion Program and Ohio’s new Rape Crisis Trust Fund.
Attorney General Mike DeWine unveiled plans last year to address gaps in Ohio’s sexual assault response capabilities after a survey by his staff the year before found that only 36 counties offered core sexual assault services and eight had few or no services. A follow-up survey in 2013 showed 49 counties provided all core services and only one offered little to no sexual assault services.
Under the expansion program, the Attorney General’s Office has awarded more than $242,000 in grants to hire full-time Sexual Assault Response Network coordinators and establish 24-hour hotlines serving Crawford, Wyandot, Meigs, Perry, and Clinton counties.
Future grants will address needs in other counties, with the goal of making direct services available statewide within three years.
In addition, Ohio’s new Rape Crisis Program Trust Fund provided nearly $1 million in new grant funding to 25 rape crisis centers in the state earlier this year. Twenty-three organizations that already offer all core services received grants of nearly $37,000, while another that provides some core services received about $8,800. Plus, the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence received a statewide training grant of $95,000 through the trust fund.
Ohio legislators created the trust fund in 2013 to provide additional resources for rape crisis centers. A $100 fee required when convicted sex offenders register replenishes the fund, which the Attorney General administers.
In addition to these recent developments, the Attorney General’s Office awarded $17 million in state and federal grants to 279 victim service providers throughout the state in the most recent grant year, which ended in September. The providers include domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, child advocacy centers, and victim/witness organizations.