Newsletter: Fall 2004: Forensic Healthcare Program News

 The Alliance is proud to announce that the New York State Department of Health (DOH) has put their stamp of approval on our Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner training program.  Earlier this month, DOH officially announced the certification of our training program, the first of its kind to be certified in this state.  The next Alliance Sexual Assault Examiner training program will take place in March 2005.

 The certification of the Alliance's SAE training program is part of a three-arm credentialing initiative by DOH, which also accredits SAFE programs in hospitals, and certifies individual examiners.  Moreover, such certification efforts mark the culmination of nearly 10-years of state-level planning to improve response to victims of assault in New York.  In 1995, following decades of diligent grassroots work by concerned New Yorkers, Governor George E. Pataki brought treatment of sexual violence victims to the State agenda. At that time, he declared  "zero tolerance" for crimes of sexual assault in New York State. Five years later, he entrenched this declaration into law by signing the Sexual Assault Reform Act (SARA).  That act gave the DOH the responsibility of designating those hospitals with SAFE programs that met certain criteria as "Centers of Excellence," or DOH-Certified SAFE programs. 

The overarching goal of SAFE programs is to provide compassionate, comprehensive physical, and mental, and forensic health care to sexual assault victims.  DOH has implemented credentialing procedures so as to assure that the examiners in certified Centers of Excellence receive thorough training and maintain the highest standard of care, thereby meeting the needs of the sexual assault victims and improving the overall community response to sexual violence.

While the DOH's initiatives will help pave the way to ensuring better health and criminal justice outcomes for victims in New York City, we are still a long way from ensuring that every victim of sexual violence is 1) aware of SAFE programs and 2) has access to a SAFE program.  The Alliance intends to vigorously pursue this goal by 1) continuing to offer the highest level of SAFE training to examiners 2) provide technical support to new and ongoing SAFE programs in New York City and 3) educate advocates, health professionals, and criminal justice professionals about the needs of sexual assault survivors.  As we help to build this infrastructure of care, the Alliance will also continue its outreach efforts, educating the public about the rights of sexual assault victims and about the services available to them.

(Read other articles in this series.)

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