NCJ Number
251405
Date Published
2008
Length
65 pages
Annotation
This report describes West Virginia's feasibility study and implementation phase for a mobile vehicle that would contain the equipment necessary for a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) to travel to rural areas of the state to conduct exams of sexual assault victims within the mobile unit.
Abstract
At a statewide SANE training event, the concept of a mobile SANE project arose in discussions. Subsequently, the state sexual assault coalition, the West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services (FRIS), decided to explore this possibility. Funding for a feasibility study was obtained from a grant by the U.S; Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) in 2002. The feasibility study also determined whether such a program could be financially self-sufficient over the long term in rural areas with limited resources. It was also important that the concept of a mobile SANE unit be feasible for various rural areas of West Virginia, as well as other parts of the country. The plan was to conduct the feasibility study and then convene focus groups in two regions of the state where the study's data showed there were a sufficient number of sexual assault reports to warrant a mobile SANE unit. One site would then be selected for the piloting of the project. The implementation phase of the feasibility study included the creation of a strategic plan for the year with the goal of having a signed contract with the hospitals in the pilot area. Under the proposed agreement, the host hospital would hire and train the SANEs who would conduct the exams in the mobile unit. The details of the financial arrangement with the hospital are included in this report. The report also includes descriptions of the start-up of the project, recruitment and training of staff, publicity, implementation results, and current project status. Appended supplementary information