Sen. Marshall Announces Grant to Improve Sexual Assault Examinations

(Washington, D.C., June 11, 2021) – Today, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D., announced that the Department of Health and Human Services awarded $500,000 to Pittsburg State University (PSU) to fund an advanced nurse education program for improving sexual assault examinations across Kansas.

“As an OB/GYN and sexual assault examiner serving in a rural community for over 25 years, I can attest to the necessity of having trained medical staff to produce a sexual offense evidence collection kit,” said Senator Marshall. “Rape is a monstrous crime and health care providers play a key role in helping victims get justice. Accurate preservation of sexual assault forensic evidence leads to justice, and well-trained health providers are the first step for victims on their road to physical and mental recovery. I applaud Pittsburg State University for its efforts to better serve all communities in Kansas through continued partnerships with medical providers.”

Senator Marshall submitted a letter of support for the application in January and strongly advocated for funding the nursing school’s program. To read the letter, click HERE.

Background:

The Advanced Nursing Education-Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) Grant Program, funded through Health Services and Resources Administration, supports innovative academic-practice partnerships to prepare advanced practice registered nursing students to practice in rural and underserved settings. Specifically, this funding will help increase the number of registered nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, and forensic nurses trained and certified to conduct sexual assault nurse examinations in communities on a local, regional and/or state level. The goal of this program is to train providers to conduct sexual assault forensic examinations that provide better physical and mental health care for survivors, better evidence collection, and lead to higher prosecution rates.

The Pittsburg State University’s Irene Ransom Bradley School of Nursing has a strong history of educating students and benefitting communities in Southeast Kansas. This grant will allow the PSU Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners to extend these services to community health centers across the entire state through a robust academic-practice-community partnership. Collaboration with the multi-disciplinary professionals involved in the reporting and care of sexual assault victims is critical to the success of this comprehensive, statewide initiative to fulfill a very critical need to rural and underserved counties. The project is expected to begin in the fall semester and will be funded through 2024.

Throughout Senator Marshall’s time in Congress, he has been a champion of the Violence Against Women Act. He also hosted roundtables on emphasizing the work of the ‘SOAR to Health and Wellness Training’ program offered by the Office on Trafficking in Persons at the Administration of Children & Families.

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