JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (Nov. 14, 2014) -- Joint Base Lewis-McChord's Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Resource Center's one-stop approach to handling sexual harassment/sexual assault incidents has drawn the attention of the Department of the Army.
"The SHARP (Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention) Resource Center here at JBLM (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) is a landmark innovation for the Army that we're trying to spread across all Army installations," said Under Secretary of the Army Brad Carson during a visit Wednesday. "It's an amazing facility, and they're doing amazing work.
The center has seen a steady stream of visitors since its inception last year. During a visit in June, Army Secretary John McHugh announced that the model would become an Army best practice.
In the months that followed, other military installations, including Fort Hood, Texas, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and installations in Europe have visited or reached out to begin their own process of setting up one-stop SHARP centers.
The center at JBLM combines all of the necessary components a victim may need in one location, making it easier and faster to get the help they need, said Sgt. 1st Class Dereck Souder, the sexual assault response coordinator of the SHARP Resource Center, located on the first floor of building 2027C, Lewis Main.
"(In the past), if a victim needed to go see behavioral health, they had to go to a different location to get that care, or if they had to go see the police or [the Judge Advocate General] or whoever, they had to go to a different location," Souder said. "They were all over the post trying to find who they have to talk to. A lot of times, because they had to do that, it made it difficult for them to get immediate help."
Souder and the staff of the center gave Carson a tour of the facility and shared with him lessons learned that may benefit other Army installations.
"What they do here that's unique is they bring together all of the various service providers from the provost marshal general's office to the lawyers to the victim advocates, (and) behavioral health specialists all to one single place where a victim can come and get all the services they might need. That kind of integrated solution is really critical to the Army's SHARP efforts," Carson said.
A key component to JBLM's efforts is reaching out to local area leaders to help stamp out SHARP incidents in the community.
"Working with the local community helps to strengthen the whole process," Souder said. "We're sending out a strong message: We will not tolerate sexual crimes."
Combining victim resources in one location and coordinating with local law enforcement are an example of the integrated approach JBLM has taken to eliminate the "silent threat" within Army ranks.
"We have to have a service where every person can feel free to serve and not be under the threat of sexual assault," Carson said. "We need to keep the promise to Soldiers and their families that they'll be protected from the scourge of sexual assault."
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