Expanding the Contra Costa County SANE

Community Violence Solutions, the Rape Crisis Center for Contra Costa County, California proposes an expansion of the County's ability to provide Sexual Assault Forensic Exams. Together with its partner, Contra Costa Health Services, CVS will work to: 1) increase the number and availability of health care providers who are SANE-certified from the current two professionals to seven; 2) provide timely, high quality, victim-centered, and trauma-informed medical forensic exams and full medical assessments on site in Contra Costa County, as contrasted with the current need to refer many cases out of County; 3) expand access to training and clinical education for SANEs by providing funding for and linking five candidates to the required training for certifications, while also building in-house capacity to provide these trainings in the future; 4) improve access to post-assault care, by incorporating CVS Victim Advocates from the moment of intake to ensure victims are cared for not just during the examination, but that they are provided case management and linked to other supportive services; and 5) support activities that strengthen coordinated community response by reviewing and revising existing SART and MDT protocols and reinvigorating cooperation among all the SART and MDT partners.