[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8689]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRATULATING THE RAPE COUNSELING SERVICE OF FRESNO ON THEIR 25TH 
                              ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 5, 1999

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Rape 
Counseling Service of Fresno, Inc. (RCS), on occasion of its 25th 
anniversary.
  Rape Counseling Service is a victim advocacy agency. Its mission is 
to alleviate the trauma due to sexual assault and/or child molestation, 
to educate the public and to raise the level of awareness regarding 
rape and child abuse prevention.
  RCS made its start with a small core of volunteers meeting in a dorm 
room at California State University Fresno. It now has a staff of 33 
members, and 52 volunteers who aid in crisis intervention, prevention 
education, a 24-hour hot-line, hospital and court advocacy and 
individual counseling.
  For the past seven years, RCS has been ranked the number one rape 
crisis center in the state of California by the Office of Criminal 
Justice Planning, and for the past six years, has been the number one 
funded agency by Fresno County. The U.S. Department of Justice has 
named the RCS Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) as one of only two 
programs in the state to be listed in Promising Practices, a report to 
improve the criminal justice system's response to violence against 
women.
  Over the years RCS has established a strong working relationship with 
the Fresno Police Department, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office and 
the District Attorney's office. It also interacts with other community-
based organizations: Sanctuary, House of Hope, Human Services 
Coalition, Fresno County Child Abuse Prevention Council, The Fresno 
Policy Academy and Comprehensive Youth Services.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Rape Counseling Service 
of Fresno on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. The services 
provided are invaluable to the well-being of the community and victims 
of assault. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in wishing RCS many 
years of continued success.

                          ____________________