The SAPAC Survivor Care Team consists of full-time, professional Case Managers and Advocates, and highly-trained U-M Master of Social Work interns. Our team is here to help, and provides a wide array of supportive services for survivors of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking, sexual harassment, and gender-based harassment. We are here for current U-M students, faculty, and staff who have experienced harm, and for their supporters and loved ones. If none of these categories fit you, we encourage you to check out these resources.
What We Do
Crisis Intervention and Support. A big part of what we do is just sitting with you and helping you process what happened to you, and how you’re feeling about it. You may be feeling and experiencing a wide range of things. We’re here to provide empathy, validation and support - which can also look like us engaging in advocacy work for you.
Medical Advocacy. We can connect you with post-assault medical care, and walk you through what it looks like to go to the hospital or the health center for post-assault care. We also dispatch to the hospital to support survivors through that experience (Note: due to COVID-19, we are providing this service via phone, as opposed to in person.)
Academic Advocacy. Understandably, going through something painful or traumatic can have an impact on your academic performance, if you’re a student. We can reach out to your professors and GSIs to ask for things like extensions, alternative assignments, excused absences, etc.
Reporting/Investigation Support. Some people consider reporting what happened to them to the university, the police, or both. We can talk you through what those processes can look like, and connect you with an investigator or officer. We can also support you throughout the entire investigative process.
For more information on reporting:
Safety Planning. Whether or not you choose to report, you may have safety concerns, and could use some extra support and protection. We can help you access Supportive Measures through the University, or resources like a personal protection order (similar to a restraining order) through the courts.
Housing Advocacy. Maybe your living space doesn’t feel safe anymore - the harm happened there, or maybe the person who harmed you lives there, too. We can help you with securing new housing, whether on or off campus.
And more. There are lots of other types of advocacy we can do, depending on what would be helpful for you. We can reach out to your boss to ask them to give you some time off, in light of the circumstances. We can meet with Financial Aid with you to request tuition reimbursement. We can write a letter of support in many contexts, whether you’re applying for emergency aid, petitioning for a late withdrawal, etc.
Referrals. Our goal is both to provide you with the best support possible from our capacity, and to connect you with others in our community who may also be able to provide you support from their capacity. Check out our Resources page here for more information about other supportive offices and organizations.
To learn more about what your first meeting with an advocate would look like, click here.
To make an appointment, click here.
To learn more about our Peer Led Support Groups, click here.