Mat-Su Sexual Assault Response Team returns

To the editor:

Mat-Su Sexual Assault Response Team is a community approach to provide compassionate and innovative care to sexual assault survivors.

Rape is a complex, multifaceted problem that no one person or group can resolve alone.

Indeed, dealing with sexual victimization requires the collaborative and cooperative efforts of a network of services.

Thus, a team approach helps to meet the victim’s diverse needs and also provides the caregivers with a support system for dealing with the stress of victimization.

The focus of Mat-Su SART will be responding to sexual assault victims age 18 and older to promote justice and create a more compassionate and streamlined response. Each of the service providers will intervene in a way that speaks to the context of each victim’s circumstance and respects the unique roles of the different professionals involved in responding to sexual assault.

The Mat-Su SART Management Team members consist of Alaska Family Services, Alaska State Troopers, District Attorney’s Office, Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, Palmer Police Department and Wasilla Police Department. The Mat-Su SART would like to thank the many community members, coalitions, city of Houston, city of Palmer, the Mat-Su Borough and especially the city of Wasilla for their advocacy efforts to re-establish a Mat-Su SART.

For more information, feel free to contact myself or David Wilson about the Mat-Su SART at 746-4080.

Donn A. Bennice

President/CEO

Alaska Family Services Inc.