Costa honors Denim Day early at Valley Crisis Center in Los Banos

Rep. Jim Costa made sure he wore his denim jeans to support awareness of sexual assault and domestic violence when he visited the Valley Crisis Center’s Los Banos office Monday.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Denim Day, a day of solidarity for sexual assault victims, falls on April 27.

But Costa, D-Fresno, will be in Washington, D.C., that day, so he visited the crisis center at 545 J St. to share what he’s doing to help prevent violence and listen to what progress the center has made.

“I wanted to come by and thank you,” Costa said to the staff. “We have folks that are the victims of crime here. That’s the thing we’re all very, very concerned about. (Valley Crisis Center) is so critical to Los Banos and the outlying areas here.”

Costa talked about co-sponsoring the Justice for All Reauthorization Act, which intends to reduce a backlog for rape kits and provide funding for forensic and DNA testing.

Costa co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Ted Poe, who is co-chairman of the Congressional Victims’ Rights Caucus with Costa.

Costa also noted that CASA of Merced, which advocates for abused or neglected children in the court system, was nominated for a Victims’ Rights Caucus national allied award. The organization will be presented with the award Wednesday, Costa said.

The staff of the crisis center also had a big announcement.

Program Director Chee Yang told Costa that the Los Banos location is expanding its operations to regular hours.

Starting May 1, the center will be open four to five days a week: Mondays from 1 to 5 p.m., Tuesdays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and every other Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The center is responding to calls whenever they come, but the office now is open only Mondays from 1 to 5 p.m. and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“We definitely understand that the West Side of Merced County is underserved,” program coordinator Reina Nino said.

Yang said the extended hours were made possible in part due to the local support the center has received.

“We try to do our best here, with not only addressing domestic violence and sexual assault, but also child trafficking,” Yang said.

Prevention specialist Val Villanueva said the center has secured funding for a domestic violence and sexual assault advocate available at Merced College in Los Banos through 2017.

Costa congratulated the staff for the extended hours and invited the center to contact him to discuss federal grants and other funding that could help the center’s goals.

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 5:29 PM with the headline "Costa honors Denim Day early at Valley Crisis Center in Los Banos."