The training is available to advocates and law enforcement. Currently, our training is offered to sexual assault advocates who work or volunteer with rape crisis centers approved through the Utah Office for Victims of Crime or system advocates who are employed or volunteer at law enforcement agencies and/or county offices. The professionalism and expertise of sexual assault advocates are essential to maintaining clients' privacy. The Utah Confidential Communications Act requires that sexual assault advocates have forty hours of sexual assault-specific advocacy training. Conversations with victims are privileged only if the advocate has completed forty hours of sexual violence-specific training and works or volunteers with a Rape Crisis Center approved through the Utah Office for Victims of Crime. Additionally, system-based advocates who work for or volunteer for law enforcement agencies out of county offices also require the training; however, their confidentiality is based on agency policy. We collaborate with local and regional care personnel to provide our Sexual Assault Counselor Training. Our training team includes legal, medical, and human services professionals who facilitate each topic alongside our trained and dedicated staff.

Our training was carefully developed with input from all sexual violence advocates and programs across the state. More specifically, this course offers the following benefits:

• Meets the requirements set forth in the Utah Confidential Communications Act and requirements set forth by Utah's funding agencies. 
• Gives attendees information and tools to understand the role of sexual violence advocates.
• Supports attendees in recognizing and combating bias - both explicit and implicit.
• Empowers attendees to maintain the dignity of victims.
• Support attendees in encouraging victims' self-advocacy and personal decision-making throughout the response processes.
• Situates each participant within their role as an advocate and reinforces their responsibility to the agency, its clients, and to victims.
• Certifies volunteers and sexual assault advocates as rape crisis counselors - allowing for privileged, confidential communications with clients. 

We are committed to training excellence, and we are confident that this collaborative training solution will be a valuable enhancement to your current volunteer and staff training program.

As a professional training and development organization, we combine instructional expertise with curriculum development skills and an extensive history of advocacy and direct service experience.

Basic Structure

Our Sexual Assault Counselor Training is the result of decades of feedback from professionals who work with sexual violence survivors and folks who have perpetrated throughout the state. The curriculum is twenty-four hours of statewide core topics presented by our staff and sixteen hours of community-specific topics facilitated in accordance with the needs of the local community. This overall course design is meant to meet the needs of each area, population, and specific community dynamics. We work with local communities to determine the course content of the 16 hours of community-specific content and any continuing education or professional development topics. 

Course Overview

The Sexual Assault Counselor Training course is designed to meet the training needs of individuals who respond to a victim of sexual violence. The course is meant to meet the needs of various volunteers and advocates. However, this course is not designed to provide the intricacies of the investigation, prosecution, evidence collection, or case management. This course is particularly helpful to individuals who provide many different types of services to victims of sexual violence, seeking skill-based knowledge and tools for improved response and intervention.

If you have specific questions about the sexual assault counselor training, please contact our Program Specialist, Lisa Paniagua at [email protected] or (801) 746-0404 Ext. 707 (Yo hablo español) .