Kansas Sexual Assault Network

Training Schedule

The Kansas Sexual Assault Network (KSAN) was founded in January 1999 and is a collaborative effort between the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner/Sexual Assault Response Team (SANE/SART) Program at Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Joseph campus and the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center (WASAC). KSAN is based out of Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Joseph campus in Wichita. The project involves the efforts of a Statewide Coordinator, the Director of the Wichita SANE/SART Program and the Executive Director of the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center.

The Kansas Sexual Assault Network was established with the primary goal of providing quality care, compassionate services, and understanding to victims of sexual assault across the state of Kansas. KSAN offers community development, educational courses, and follow-up to targeted Kansas communities in order to meet this goal. The Statewide Coordinator contacts key players, such as medical professionals, sexual assault victim advocates, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, social workers, and judicial members in each community and assists them in developing a multidisciplinary team. The educational opportunities that are offered to communities include the SANE/SART education course and the Sexual Assault Advocate Course (SAAC).

The 40-hour SANE/SART education course offers interested professionals advanced education surrounding sexual assault and medical/legal evidence collection. Other benefits include learning about community collaboration and team building, the history of SANE/SART, profiling sex offenders, forensics, pediatric and adult examinations, advantages of using a colposcope, an overview of the judicial system, courtroom testimony, and case review. The goals of this course are to develop a core group of trained sexual assault nurse examiners in each community and develop collaborative efforts between nurses, law enforcement, victim advocates, and the court system.

The 40-hour Sexual Assault Advocate Course is designed to aid professionals in their work with victims of sexual assault through a focus on advocacy and crisis intervention. The education course is a collaborative effort between the Kansas Sexual Assault Network and the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. The course content/material includes information on sexual violence committed against adults and children, crisis intervention, history of the rape movement, underserved communities, team development, role of the victim advocate, role of law enforcement, the judicial system, Kansas civil law, the medical-legal examination, ethics and confidentiality, systems advocacy, cultural diversity, resource allocation, vicarious traumatization, and self-care. The benefit of this course is having victim advocates across the state of Kansas utilizing similar information and procedures when working with victims of sexual assault.

Each community that receives the educational courses is provided with program monitoring and evaluation tools in order to address concerns and program challenges, track statistics, and gage the progress of each program. The tools include evaluations and surveys that programs will fill out and discuss with the Statewide Coordinator.

Through community collaboration and formalized education, targeted communities will possess the skills and support necessary to provide victims of sexual assault with quality care and client-centered services. By developing a multidisciplinary team, each community has the unique opportunity to expand their role with victims and network with other agencies.

The Wichita SANE/SART Program and the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center believed that the state of Kansas was ready for standardized victim services statewide. They made the decision to apply for grant money to fund the Kansas Sexual Assault Network so that a uniform approach could be developed and implemented in targeted communities. The belief remains that victims of sexual assault deserve to be treated with care and respect without the fear of retraumatization. KSAN strives to support agencies across Kansas and assist them in their efforts.

Depending on funding availability, we hope to continue our plight and assist approximately three to four communities each year with community development and advanced education. Kansas communities continue to express their interest in becoming involved with KSAN and their desire to develop a teaming approach to victim services. Combating sexual assault and offering quality care to victims involves collaboration with victim service entities within each community. By pulling together and joining forces, everyone’s job will be a little easier. Each service provider will be able to concentrate on their role with the victim and be able to offer more enhanced services.

40-HOUR SEXUAL ASSAULT ADVOCATE COURSE AGENDA

40-Hour SANE/SART COURSE AGENDA