Advocates for sexual assault survivors are celebrating a $50,000 win after City Council approved the FY 2018 budget last week (see above). Though money’s looking tight, Council did allocate a one-time appropriation to train and certify local therapists in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR), defined by the Survivor Justice Project’s Ana Rodriguez DeFrates as the therapy survivors “depend on” to move forward. Under the contract agreement, therapists will receive the free specialized training in exchange for providing pro-bono services to survivors seeking professional support. The money will likely cover training costs for 25-50 therapists, who will be added to Austin Police Department‘s Victim Services referral list within a year.
The request for budget consideration by CMs Greg Casar and Alison Alter came in direct response to the recent influx of analyzed DNA evidence, as results are finally returning from APD’s backlogged rape kits (see “A Piece of Cake,” Sept. 15). Emily LeBlanc, who co-chairs Travis County’s Sexual Assault Response and Resource Team, said that survivors getting updates on their cases after “months, years, and even decades of silence” has increased the need for trauma-informed therapy services. Organizations like SAFE, which administer these types of therapies, already have long wait lists.
Money for EMDR was one of two asks from advocates, who testified at Council on Aug. 31 as budget discussions were heating up. The second, for APD funding to hire five additional Victim Services counselors to assist with sex crimes, was not approved. (The unit has survived with just three counselors since budget cuts in 2006.) DeFrates said they’ll likely ask again when Council runs its mid-year budget amendment after public safety contracts (including APD’s) are finalized and adopted. “We’ll have another chance to testify and make the case for survivors,” said DeFrates. “We’re not giving up.”
This article appears in September 22 • 2017.