Training offered for sex assault counseling

The VOICE Sexual Assault Program of Pioneer Center for Human Services will conduct a Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention Training Program for individuals interested in becoming a volunteer sexual assault medical advocate. Forty hours of training will take place in a 10-session training program held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., Sept. 9-Oct. 9.

Speakers at the training session will include Jesse Pierce and Denyse Snyder of the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault or ICASA, a sexual assault nurse examiner, a police officer, a representative from the McHenry County State's Attorney's office along with Cindy Murphy, program manager of the VOICE Sexual Assault Program at Pioneer. Individuals will be able to perform the duties of a sexual assault medical advocate after completing the forty hour training program.

The training sessions will be held at Pioneer Center for Human Services' administration building at 4031 Dayton St. in McHenry. There is no cost for the program, but interested individuals are asked to register by calling or emailing Cindy Murphy at (815) 759-7066 or cmurphy@pioneercenter.org.

Pioneer Center for Human Services is a not-for-profit agency that provides services to more than 1,700 individuals annually in McHenry County. It has grown and enriched the lives of many since it was founded in 1958. Pioneer Center for Human Services serves persons with developmental disabilities, mental illness, traumatic brain injury and provides early intervention therapies for children from birth to age five. It also serves victims of sexual assault through the VOICE program and homeless men, women and families through the McHenry County PADS.