Effectiveness of SANE/SART
NIJ studies have found that Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs and multidisciplinary Sexual Assault Response Teams (SART): [1], [2]
- Enhance the quality of health care for women who have been sexually assaulted.
- Improve the quality of forensic evidence.
- Increase law enforcement's ability to collect information, file charges and refer to prosecution.
- Increased prosecution rates over time.
The International Association of Forensic Nurse's database shows programs operating throughout the United States and its territories. Most programs are based in hospitals and others are located in community settings.
Evaluating SANE Programs
NIJ supported the creation of a Practitioner Toolkit for Evaluating the Work of SANE Programs (pdf, 145 pages). The goal of this Toolkit is to assist SANE program staff in evaluating how their program affects the reporting, investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases in their community. This Toolkit was developed as part of a large research study on the work of SANEs in the criminal justice system. [3] The lessons learned from that project helped inform the development of this Toolkit, but by no means are legal outcomes the only or best way to evaluate the success of SANE programs.
About This Article
The research described in this article was funded by NIJ under grants 2005-WG-BX-0003, awarded to Michigan State University, and 98-WT-VX-0027, awarded to the Albuquerque SANE Collaborative.
This article is based on the grantee reports "Impact Evaluation of a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program (pdf, 129 pages)" and "Step-by-Step Practitioner Toolkit for Evaluating the Work of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Programs in the Criminal Justice System" (pdf, 145 pages).