PANAMA CITY — Area rape victims have had fewer free counseling options since the summer 2014 closure of the Rape Crisis Center at the Panama City Salvation Army.
Some rape victims have had to travel to Fort Walton Beach for free counseling. The Salvation Army facility closed after officials decided the outreach requirements of a grant funding the program were too cumbersome.
However, the center in Panama City continues to offer domestic violence counseling and services, including the safe house for women, and it continues to offer counseling for rape victims in cases involving intimate relationships, said Kimberly Garbett, the executive director of the program.
Counseling services for other rapes still are available through programs such as Life Management of Northwest Florida, which are sometimes funded by the state, Garbett said.
“It would depend upon an individual’s income whether they qualified for victims’ crime compensation,” Garbett said.
The Salvation Army’s rape counseling program was free, and David Angier, a spokesman for the State Attorney’s Office, said closing the local Salvation Army’s Rape Crisis Center “has left quite a void.”
Since the Salvation Army eliminated its service, the State Attorney’s Office has been referring rape victims to a certified rape counseling center in Fort Walton Beach for free counseling, Angier said.
“That’s the only certified rape counseling center left in the area,” he said.
He said rape victims could get counseling at local counseling centers, but they would charge for the services. Angier said the victim could then apply to the state for reimbursement, but there is no guarantee they will receive state funds.
“It is very difficult to get compensation,” he said. “Their best option is to go to Fort Walton Beach.”
The State Attorney’s Office does offer rape victims assistance going through the court process, which is something the Salvation Army used to do as well.
In the seven years the Rape Crisis Center was open, the Salvation Army offered more than 175 people rape counseling and outreach services.
Garbett said they had no choice but to stop offering rape crisis counseling and intervention services because of the extensive outreach services required in a grant funding the program through the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence.
“We were what was called a ‘dual provider,’ ” she said. “We provided domestic violence and sexual assault services. There are very, very few dual providers in the state.”
Garbett said they only have one full-time staff person and one part-time staff person handling the program, and the grant required outreach services in six counties the Salvation Army covers. Some other Salvation Army chapters only cover one county.
She said they could have continued to offer the rape crisis program if the grant only required victim’s advocacy and counseling.
“Outreach covers a bunch of things, a lot of going out in the community and meeting with the health department, meeting with providers who might offer sexual assault services, taking pamphlets to doctors’ offices, training for businesses,” she said. “We’re required on a monthly basis to make a certain number of contacts.”
Jennifer Dritt, the executive director of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Ruth Corley, public information officer for the Bay County Sheriff’s Department, said they don’t have a certified rape counselor at the office but do offer support services for victims.
“We do have a victim’s advocate who will respond when called to the scene if there is a rape victim or victim of a domestic abuse case,” she said.