State and Territorial Rape Prevention Education Directors’ Council
Annual Report to the Council – 2005-2006
Submitted by Binnie LeHew, Chair
Our first year of existence has been challenging and successful. I am very pleased to be sending you this report, although I wish we could all be together. I hope your time together in “regions” this year is valuable and productive, and allows you to get to know each other a little better.
We have had a dedicated group of Officers and Steering Committee members, and I deeply appreciate all the time and effort they have given. Becky Odor, our Chair-elect, and Jane Key, our Secretary-treasurer, have been invaluable for their support and wisdom. The backbone of our organization, however, has been the regional representatives who are your link with us and our link with you. I cannot express enough appreciation for the involvement of Marci Diamond, Carol Thornton, Jan Davis, Amy Okaya, Kathy Middleton, Gail Ponder, Teresa Brechlin, Carol Hensell, Debbie Ruggles, and Rebecca Koshiba. Thank you all for helping us launch!
We held four meetings this year by teleconference. While this was more than originally envisioned, it was helpful to address the big issues on the Council’s plate – preparing for the new RFA and assisting with the planning for the Institutes. Becky and I also participated in conference calls with CDC staff (Corinne Graffunder, Margaret Brome, and Sandra Cashman) every other month. On the opposite months, these calls include two representatives from the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV), who are Marybeth Carter and Annette Burrhus-Clay. These meetings serve as an opportunity to communicate ideas and concerns for policy and programming between the organizations.
Our Successes
· We have set up a structure for communication that appears to be simple and direct, using regional representatives to communicate key information and solicit your feedback. Our communication with CDC has been strengthened, since we have established a mechanism to convey our needs and priorities and to further support the goals of the RPE program.
· We raised some of your concerns with CDC staff about timeliness of the RFA release and “heads up” on key changes – they listened and responded. While they had no control over PGO’s timeline, they did give us an overview of key changes in February, prior to the release of the RFA in April.
· We have established a stronger link with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, who would like to support the unique resources and needs of public health professionals.
· We have gained a stronger alliance with the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors’ Association (STIPDA), who advocated for VAWA reauthorization and RPE grant funding on our behalf. They have also established a Violence Against Women committee, on which Becky and I serve.
Our Challenges and Opportunities
· As an organization, we were invited to assist CDC in planning for the regional institutes. We offered feedback on topics, helped identify presenters, planned a presentation, and will assist with some logistical duties. This has been a wonderful opportunity to get our training and technical assistance needs met – however, it has required a great deal of time from those who participated in the planning. We are at a point where we need to set up some committees to assist with the requests that the Council has fielded from CDC and other national partners.
· Each year, there is regular turnover in state health department staff who are assigned to this grant. We are fortunate to have a core group of experienced directors who have been working with the RPE program for many years – and we also need to be supportive of those who may be new and unfamiliar with the program. Some of the regions did a great job offering assistance, while others did very little networking. I would like to challenge us all to be more available for peer support and networking. In the spirit of the new cooperative agreement, let’s help each other reach our common goals, working together to strengthen the public health approach to preventing sexual violence.
· The RFA and new project period represents a new shift in RPE programming. I believe this change strengthens our program by aligning it more closely with public health practice. However, the RPE program was created through the hard work of our partners in the state sexual assault coalitions. If it were not for their advocacy, the tremendous impact of sexual violence on our communities might not be recognized today. For many of our coalition partners, the RPE program shift threatens to undermine the vast system of services that exists today for victims of sexual assault – especially as we try to operate in difficult fiscal times. I know there will be more challenges ahead. I hope that we will move forward with respect for the foundation of this work, and be advocates for our coalition partners as they struggle to make change, as well. All of us – the CDC, the Alliance, the RPE Council – need to maintain a spirit of openness and cooperation as we begin the planning phase for this new shift in RPE programming.
Our Future
In the coming year, Becky and I have identified several tasks we would like to accomplish:
· Expand the Council’s networking with the NSVRC and the national Resource Sharing Project, two other important national stakeholders;
· Expand our ability to respond to training and technical assistance needs by establishing some of our standing committees;
· Develop a compendium of brief profiles for each state or territory’s RPE program, to help us better understand our similarities and mutual resources; and
· Strengthen our peer mentoring/support network for new and existing RPE directors.
Nominations/Regional elections
During this first term, there were staggered terms assigned for the steering committee. The regional representatives whose terms are about to expire are Marci Diamond (Regions I & II), Jan Davis (Region IV), Amy Okaya (Region V), Kathy Middleton (Region VI), and Teresa Brechlin (Region VIII). I want to thank them all for their service! While we don’t have term limits (!), I encourage you to network with the others in your region during these institutes to identify who is willing to serve you for the coming two-year term.
We know that our continued success relies greatly on all of you and your willingness to participate in the Council. Please sign up for committees, consider being a regional representative, and be active! Please let us know what you need and challenge us to serve you better.