Edmonton sexual assault survivors still waiting 17 months for counselling

Alberta's new Children and Families minister will continue looking into how to cut the length of time sexual assault survivors wait for counselling, he says.

After a public brouhaha over funding last spring, the United Conservative Party government gave the province's 15 agencies about $4.2 million dollars extra, most of which was destined to reduce wait times for trauma counselling.

However, adults in the province's capital are still waiting about 17 months, Mary Jane James, CEO of the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE), said on Monday.

"We are not moving the needle as much as we would like to have, and I'm sure as much as the government of Alberta would like to see we are," she said.

SACE received nearly half of that extra money, and was able to hire new counsellors to see children and youth, James said. That has helped reduce wait times for younger clients to two months from six months.

Recruiting personnel to help adults has been more challenging, she said — and the demand and complexity of their situations won't let up.

"For every 10 new clients we get into counselling, we get 10 new intakes asking for counselling," she said.

The province has committed to shunting an additional $10 million to the sexual assault centres during the next four years. The funding for all centres last year was $13.8 million, according to the ministry.

James is anxious to learn how the province will divvy up the extra money, and whether it will come with limits.

Although counselling can get survivors back to school, their jobs, and other commitments, James said age-appropriate education sessions, delivered in the province's schools, are crucial to preventing sexual assault.

"Because everything we've been doing to date — we've just been throwing bits of project funding here, there and everywhere — is not working."

Children and Family Services Minister Searle Turton says he thought it was "cool" that the premier moved responsibility for women's shelters and sexual assault centres into the portfolio, which he took over in June. He thinks it will ensure more continuity in services.

Turton says he'll be consulting with the centres to decide how best to roll out the new funding.

Also in Turton's mandate letter, which was released last week, the premier asks the minister to improve the foster care system to "reduce the number of moves and minimize disruption during a child's time in care."