Facing a significant budget crunch, one of Orange County’s oldest and most prominent nonprofit organizations is announcing major cuts in staff and services.
In a letter to supporters on Friday, the Orange County Rape Crisis Center announced plans to cut staff by 50 percent in the coming year and significantly reduce or eliminate many of its programs. While the OCRCC’s 24-hour sexual assault helpline will remain available as before, the agency will reduce its therapy caseload by about 60 percent; focus legal advocacy only on the “most urgent” cases; close its Latino outreach and engagement programs; and scale back its bullying and sexual-assault prevention programs in local schools. Those prevention programs have been available to every grade level for 35 years, but they’ll only be available to certain grade levels going forward.
“In the 14 years I’ve been with the agency, I’ve never seen a challenge so steep,” said executive director Rachel Valentine to supporters — adding that the current budget crunch may be the largest in the OCRCC’s entire history, which dates back to 1974.
Valentine said the cuts were necessitated by a major drop in federal funds and government contracts. Among other things, she cites a drop in funds from the federal Victims of Crime Act, a $400,000 reduction in government contracts over the last three years, and the end of pandemic-era funding programs like the American Rescue Plan Act and Payroll Protection Program. While the nonprofit faced budget constrictions in 2021, the executive director said this level of change is unprecedented for the organization.
“We have never seen funding cuts as deep or as sudden as what we’re currently experiencing,” Valentine said. She added that the OCRCC is not alone: other victims’ services organizations across the state “are facing similar cuts” as well.
Worse, she said, those cuts come at a time when the number of people seeking services is on the rise. In the last fiscal year, the OCRCC provided service to more than 1200 sexual-assault survivors — an 80 percent increase since 2020.
“The message from our government funders is clear,” Valentine said. “If Orange County wants thriving victims’ services, they will have to figure out how to support it themselves.”
That’s something Valentine said she believes is possible. While the news was grim, she added a note of “cautious optimism” about the local community’s ability to help the OCRCC weather the storm.
“[I’ve] never seen this agency and its supporters shy from a challenge,” she said. “We are fortunate to be based in a community that has always believed that survivors deserve care and support. The question now is if this community believes that ending sexual violence and its impact is worth fighting for.”
Here’s the full statement from the Orange County Rape Crisis Center:
Orange County Rape Crisis Center (OCRCC), a staple of the Orange County human services safety net, has been hit with another round of devastating funding cuts. The agency is not unique in this plight- dozens of victims’ services organizations across North Carolina are facing similar cuts due to precipitous and continuing declines in the availability of federal VOCA funding, as well as a local human services infrastructure stretched thin by our current recession.
OCRCC, established in 1974, provides free, confidential and nonjudgmental support to survivors of sexual violence and their loved ones. Services include 24-hour crisis intervention and emotional support; hospital and court accompaniment; personal and legal advocacy; pro bono therapy and peer-led support groups; and prevention education for children, youth and adults. In 2022-23 OCRCC provided direct service sort over 1200 survivors and engaged nearly 15,000 children and families in prevention efforts.
In the last 3 years OCRCC has seen a decrease of over $400,000 in government contracts, once the largest and most reliable source of funding for core sexual assault services. These debilitating cuts leave survivors with fewer services as record numbers come forward.
Since 2020 the number of survivors stepping forward to begin their healing journey with OCRCC has increased by over 80%. In the midst of these funding cuts, OCRCC staff and volunteers have maintained the highest quality of services for survivors throughout this surge in demand.
This year, OCRCC will be cutting staff by 50%. This will impact services to the community. While the agency is committed to maintaining quality services, some offerings will be reduced. For example, the agency will be able to provide therapy to roughly 40% of the previous caseload and will discontinue its popular Trauma Care Collaborative professional network for therapists. Advocacy and legal case management services will divert to a waitlist for all but the most urgent matters. Prevention programming in the schools will only be available to some grade levels, a major shift from the “Every child, every grade, every year” approach of the last 35 years. OCRCC will also be closing its beloved Latino/e/x Outreach and Engagement programming. There will be no changes to the agency’s oldest core services: the 24 -Hour Helpline (available by phone, chat or text) will continue to be available all day, every day.
Executive Director Rachel Valentine interprets the funding cuts as a call to action for local communities: “The message from our government funders is clear – if Orange County wants thriving victims’ services, they will have to figure out how to support it themselves.”
Valentine expresses cautious optimism in the face of this reality: “We are fortunate to be based in a community that has always believed that survivors deserve care and support. The question now is if this community believes that ending sexual violence and its impact is worth fighting for. As we enter our 50th year of service in Orange County, we invite you to fight with us for the services that survivors deserve.”
More information about the OCRCC and how you can support their efforts to keep the lights on for survivors can be found at their website: ocrcc.org.
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