Clockwise from far left, Pittsburgh Action Against Rape advocates Amelia Erlandson, Haley Kerr; Advocacy Manager Katie Van Ness; advocate Vivian Sentmier, Megan Schroeder, director of victim response; and Kelsey Leigh, director of external affairs and strategic initiatives, during an advocates meeting at PAAR’s South Side offices, Monday, July 7, 2025. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)

By Ember Duke, Pittsburgh’s Public Source

With flat state funding and rising costs, Pennsylvania’s rape crisis centers say they are struggling to maintain services and worry that continued financial strain could erode critical support for more than 26,000 survivors a year.

For decades, rape crisis workers have helped survivors of sexual assault, rape and trafficking navigate some of the hardest moments of their lives. But without a funding increase since 2021 — and none included in the state’s proposed 2025–26 budget — many centers say they’re already making difficult trade-offs and may not be able to sustain current staffing levels, programming or wages and benefits.

The state’s funding for rape crisis services has held steady at $11.92 million since 2021. With staff wages comprising the bulk of costs, centers say the money simply doesn’t stretch as far as it once did.

“We just want to reinvest in the work we’re all already doing, which is just becoming a thinner and thinner shoestring budget,” said Kelsey Leigh, director of external affairs and strategic initiatives at Pittsburgh Action Against Rape [PAAR]. “We feel very strongly about treating our workers well and compensating them well for this very difficult work … This work is vicarious trauma.”

The funding, distributed by the state Department of Human Services, makes up a significant portion of the budgets for the 47 centers that offer rape crisis services across the state. That’s why many centers, in collaboration with their oversight agency Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect [PCAR], are pushing for an $8 million increase, to be allocated based on size, population served and hours of service. 

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Ember Duke is a recent graduate of Duquesne University and one of 10 Pittsburgh Media Partnership summer interns.