Item 11: Draft Recommendation to Council regarding SAFE ATX — original pdf

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RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL African American Resource Advisory Commission Recommendation Number: [20260804-011]: Recommendation on SAFE Alliance & Eloise House Date of Approval: Recommendation: The African American Resource Advisory Commission recommends that the Austin City Council, in partnership with Travis County, ensure that Austin's response to domestic and sexual violence is grounded in a survivor-centered, trauma-informed continuum of care by maintaining investment in SAFE Alliance's survivor services and strengthening partnerships with SAFE Alliance to ensure survivors have seamless access to community-based advocacy, forensic services, shelter, counseling, legal services, and culturally responsive support. The Commission further recommends that the City prioritizes care models that minimize retraumatization and reduce barriers to accessing services, recognizing that trauma-informed care extends beyond the forensic exam and includes immediate advocacy, continuity of care, and coordinated wraparound services. The Commission also recommends that the City continues evaluating Austin's forensic exam system through meaningful engagement with survivors, advocates, and community-based organizations to ensure operational and funding decisions are guided by trauma-informed best practices and centered on the needs of survivors. Description of Recommendation to Council: SAFE Alliance has long operated Eloise House, Austin’s only community-based, non-hospital forensic exam center. The model integrates forensic nursing, crisis advocacy, legal services, shelter, counseling, and culturally responsive support into a coordinated continuum of care centered on survivor needs. Unlike a traditional hospital setting, Eloise House was intentionally designed to reduce trauma by providing: ● Trauma-informed forensic care ● A community-based setting outside the emergency room ● Services at no cost to survivors ● Advocates who remain with survivors throughout the forensic exam process ● Immediate connection to wraparound services, including shelter, counseling, legal advocacy, and safety planning SAFE Alliance currently provides approximately: ● 600 forensic exams annually ● Services to more than 700 survivors each day ● More than 27,000 SAFEline contacts each year ● Services in which approximately 50% of clients identify as Hispanic/Latinx ● Approximately 95% of regional forensic exams were through Eloise House (prior to ending the forensic exams) Although the transition of forensic exams has occurred, the Commission remains concerned that separating forensic exams from SAFE Alliance’s integrated advocacy model may increase barriers to care for survivors. The Commission believes Austin should continue strengthening partnerships with SAFE Alliance to ensure survivors have seamless access to advocacy, wraparound services, and culturally responsive support throughout the forensic exam process and beyond. It is equally critical that the City not reduce or eliminate funding for SAFE Alliance’s broader continuum of services. SAFE operates approximately 20 programs serving survivors across a wide spectrum of need, including emergency shelter, counseling, legal advocacy, prevention programs, and specialized services for children and families experiencing violence. These services work together to reduce violence, promote long-term recovery, and prevent future victimization. Rationale: Domestic and sexual violence are public health issues that disproportionately impact communities already facing barriers to accessing care, including many Hispanic/Latinx families, immigrant communities, and survivors with limited financial resources. The hospital transition reintroduces many of the barriers Eloise House was designed to remove. Emergency departments are not designed as trauma-informed environments for survivors. Wait times are often long, lighting is harsh, and care is frequently fragmented across multiple providers without the continuity of support that survivors deserve. The Commission remains particularly concerned about barriers that arise before care even begins. Governor Abbott's Executive Order GA-46 requires Texas hospitals participating in Medicaid or CHIP to ask patients about their citizenship or lawful presence during intake. While patients are not required to answer and hospitals must inform them that care will not be affected by their response, requiring hospital staff to ask this question creates a chilling effect that policy disclaimers cannot undo. Survivors within the community have reported being asked about their immigration status during routine hospital visits. For undocumented or mixed-status survivors already living with fear of immigration enforcement, that question alone may discourage them from seeking care. Eloise House, as a community-based non-hospital setting, is not subject to these requirements, and that distinction matters significantly for the populations this Commission serves. Cost is another documented barrier. SAFE Alliance's services are provided free of charge. Hospital-based care may create uncertainty regarding costs or billing, and even the perception that survivors could receive a bill can discourage low-income and working-class families from seeking care. A trauma-informed system should remove financial uncertainty during moments of crisis. Separating forensic exams from advocacy breaks the coordinated model that has served Austin survivors for decades. Eloise House succeeds because forensic care, crisis advocacy, and pathways to ongoing support exist in one trusted location. Fewer than one in four survivors ever report an assault. That number may decline further if survivors must navigate unfamiliar systems, fragmented care, or environments they perceive as inaccessible or unsafe. Domestic and sexual violence are public health, housing, economic, and immigrant community issues. As other public safety nets continue to face increasing demand, maintaining strong partnerships with community-based organizations such as SAFE Alliance is essential to ensuring that every Austin resident, regardless of immigration status, income, language, or background, can access safety, advocacy, and healing through a trauma-informed continuum of care. Motioned By: Seconded By: Vote: For: Absent: Attest: