Amendments to the Community Mental Health Centers Act (Public Law 94-63) required community mental health centers (CMHCs) to provide such rape-related services as rape prevention and control, and to assure service availability to rape victims and their families. A questionnaire designed to assess how rape-related services are delivered was mailed to directors of 107 federally funded comprehensive CMHCs in a seven-state region. Fifty-five responses were received, indicating that rape-related services were offered by approximately two-thirds of the centers, 65% of which considered their rape-related services to be less comprehensive than other services. The budget for rape services was less than $lO,OOO in 80% of responding centers, representing less than 0.5% of the average CMHC budget. Services provided, primarily clinical, involved crisis intervention, counseling, and psychotherapy with rape victims and their families. Prevention and educational activities accounted for less than 25% of all rape-related services at most CMHCs. The results of the study question the impact of federal mandates on local mental health services.
Sexual assault is one of the fastest increasing violent crimes in the United States.
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports (US. DepaHment of Justice, 1980), reports of rape to law enforcement agencies more than doubled between 1970 and 1979. The true incidence may be as much as three times greater (Dormanen, 1980), since social stigma of rape has caused it to be chronically underreported. The behavioral and adjustment difficulties of sexual assault victims have been widely noted (e.g., Kilpatrick, Veronen, & Resick, 1979) and ameliorative interventions reported (e.g., Forman, 1980; Heppner & Heppner, 1977). How such information is put to use in community mental health centers (CMHCs), however, remains in question and is the subject of the present study.
When Congress revamped requirements for CMHCs via Public Law 94-63, enacted in 1975, services to rape victims were included in the mandate. Specifically, CMHCs were to engage in the prevention and control of rape and to assure the availability of treatment services to rape victims and members of their families. These services were included under the rubric Consultation and Education (C & E), a carryover from the original Community Mental Health Centers Act (Public Law 88-164), passed in 1963. Unfortunately, directives for the implementation of rape-related services were not specific and included few guidelines for oganization and delivery of these services. CMHCs were