OVC is pleased to make the online version of its successful Sexual Assault Advocate and Service Provider Training (SAASPT) available. SAASPT was designed primarily to assist rape crisis centers in their efforts to train sexual assault advocates. The OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC), which provides training and technical assistance to thousands of victim service providers each year, continues to provide the SAASPT training onsite throughout the country as a Training. OVC created this online version to make the training more widely available.
This training was adapted and revised from material prepared under grant number 97-VF-GX-K021, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice and is used here by the Office for Victims of Crime.
The original training was the result of the efforts of sexual assault advocates and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) across the United States who have dedicated their careers to improving the system response to sexual assault survivors. In particular, it is the result of the efforts of the staff of the Sexual Assault Resource Service (SARS) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the Santa Fe Rape Crisis Center (SFRCC) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is based upon what was learned from these experts as a result of their efforts.
The original authors were Linda E. Ledray, Ph.D., RN, SANE-A, FAAN, SARS Director; Sharon Moscinski, M.A., LMHC, advocate, SFRCC; and Carla Ferrucci, Executive Director, Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
This training was revised in 2014 by Dana DeHart, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Research at the University of South Carolina's College of Social Work. James Hopper, Ph.D., Clinical Instructor of Psychology at Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School; and Stacy Malone, JD and Lindy Aldrich, JD, Victim Rights Law Center, served as subject matter experts for new modules on neurobiology and the brain, male sexual assault, and campus sexual assault.
This training was revised again in 2017 and in 2022 by Suzanne Rotolo, Ph.D., RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, with major contributions from OVC TTAC staff Kathleen Demro, Victoria Shelton, Tammi Slovinsky, and Claudia Zaborsky.
The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
