AN ACT CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAMINERS PROGRAM.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAMINERS PROGRAM.

This bill authorizes the Office of Victim Services (OVS) to establish a program to train sexual assault forensic examiners (SAFE) and make them available to adult and adolescent sexual assault victims at participating hospitals. The bill creates a 12-member committee to advise OVS on establishing and implementing the program.

It transfers, to OVS from the Division of Criminal Justice, the responsibility for paying for forensic examinations of rape victims, including testing for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases and providing prophylactic treatment. By law, the facility conducting the exam and providing treatment cannot charge the victim.

Under the bill, a SAFE must be a physician or a registered or advanced practice registered nurse. The bill sets the framework for examiners' services in hospitals.

1. recruiting participants and developing a specialized training course for them;

2. developing agreements between Judicial Branch, the Public Health Department (DPH), and participating hospitals on the program's scope of services and hospital standards for providing the services;

3. mechanisms for tracking individual cases;

4. using medically accepted best practices; and

5. developing quality assurance mechanisms.

1. the chief court administrator, chief state's attorney, victim advocate, and DPH commissioner, or their designees;

2. one representative each of the Public Safety Department's Scientific Services and State Police divisions, appointed by the public safety commissioner;

3. the presidents of the Connecticut Hospital Association and Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians, or their designees;

4. a person appointed by the directors of Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis Services, Inc. ;

5. one appointee each from the Connecticut Chapter of the International Association of Forensic Nurses, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, and the Connecticut Emergency Nurses Association.

Under the bill, a SAFE may provide immediate care and treatment to a sexual assault victim in a hospital and collect evidence. In doing so, the SAFE must follow (1) existing state sexual assault evidence collection protocols, (2) the hospital's policies and accreditation standards, and (3) the hospital's written agreement with OVS and DPH concerning its participation in the SAFE program.

The bill specifies that it is not to be construed to alter the scope of nursing practice established in statute.

Commission on the Standardization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations

The legislature established this 14-member commission to (1) recommend a protocol, the “Connecticut Technical Guidelines for Health Care Response to Victims of Sexual Assault,” and revisions to it to the chief state's attorney for adoption as regulations and (2) design a sexual assault evidence collection kit and provide it for free to all health care facilities at which sexual assault evidence is collected. Each facility that provides for the collection of sexual assault evidence must follow the guidelines. The commission must advise the chief state's attorney on establishing a mandatory program to teach facility staff how to implement the protocols, use the evidence kit, and handle evidence.

The law also requires the commission annually to advise the chief state's attorney on the program's implementation and effectiveness (CGS § 19a-112a).

Yea

Nay

(03/09/2009)

Yea

Nay

(04/15/2009)