ASSAULT AGENCY MOVING; SEX CRIME UNIT GETS NEW FUNDS, LOCATION.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Antelope Valley Hospital's Sexual Assault Response Service is expanding its program and moving to bigger quarters after receiving a $268,000 grant from the state Office of Criminal Justice Planning.

The 20-year-old service, which counsels victims of sexual assault, plans to expand its community education programs, add more individual and group counseling services, hire office staff and move out of the one-room office it uses on the hospital grounds and into a larger office in a nearby business park.

``We are ecstatic. It's an unbelievable situation for us. We are very grateful for the opportunity and plan to do whatever we can to increase services to sexual assault survivors in this community,'' said coordinator Sandy Darrington, the service's only paid staff member.

Originally, the grant was to give SARS $162,550 for each of three years, but the service was renewed for the second year this fiscal year at an increased amount of $268,000.

State officials said the additional funding for SARS, one of six programs funded by the state criminal justice office, was due to an increase in the availability of federal funds.

``Any time we can do anything to benefit victims of crimes, whether sexual assault victims, male or female, that's a good thing,'' said Fran Clader with the criminal justice office.

The service, formed in 1978, counsels and provides other assistance to victims of sexual assault and their families.

``The hospital made the commitment to SARS in 1978 because we saw the need through the emergency room. We've been running the program really on a shoestring based on donations and grants we could get,'' said Gary Cothran, hospital spokesman. ``It's really been Sandy Darrington and volunteers running the program on $55,000 a year. This is the first time we can expand the program and meet the needs of the community.''

Staffed by Darrington and trained volunteers, the free, 24-hour service based at the hospital is the only one of its kind in an area that encompasses southeast Kern County, the Antelope Valley and part of San Bernardino County.

The service provides a 24-hour crisis hotline and assistance at local emergency rooms, where volunteers respond within 30 minutes of a call.

Continued support is furnished if the victim decides to pursue criminal prosecution. Also offered are one-on-one counseling, referral services and community outreach and education.

Volunteers undergo more than 60 hours of training and participate in a six-month ``on-the-job'' introductory period before final acceptance as active SARS advocates.

In 1997, the number of adult sex crimes in the Antelope Valley investigated by sheriff's deputies was more than twice the volume, per capita, of other sheriff's divisions in Los Angeles County. SARS assisted more than 680 new clients in 1997.

``We will expand our community education program, making the community aware through educational seminars and classes at high schools,'' Cothran said. The program plans to hire a secretary and a community education coordinator, Cothran said.

There also will be additional group and individual counseling for rape victims, purchase of educational materials and videos, and an upgrade of the computer system to better provide crime statistics, Cothran added.

As part of the expansion, SARS will move from its 200-square-foot headquarters in a small building next to the hospital to 1,200 square feet of office space in a business park on Avenue J a block away from the hospital, which is footing the bill for the rent.

``In the time SARS has been in existence, it never had even close to an adequate place. They were usually in a closet. Many times, they were sharing space with everyone else,'' hospital board member Shirley Sayles said. ``This is a real opportunity to get additional work done in the community.''