Item 7. ATC SARRT Letter — original pdf

Backup

April 3, 2026 RE: Austin/Travis County SARRT’s Call to Action Who We Are The Austin/Travis County Sexual Assault Response & Resource Team (A/TC SARRT) is one of the oldest and most highly regarded coordinated community responses in the state of Texas comprised of law enforcement, prosecutors, forensic nurses, mental health providers, advocates, and survivors unified in the response to post-pubescent adolescent and adult sexual assault victims. For over two decades, the A/TC SARRT’s mission has been to enhance the local response to sexual assault through ongoing collaboration, training, and coordination among agencies charged with responding to these crimes. What We Stand For The A/TC SARRT is committed to the following principles as we evaluate the future of forensic exam services in Austin and Travis County: • Survivor-Centered Care: All decisions must be grounded in trauma-informed practice, cultural humility, and accessibility including meaningful choice in who provides their care. This includes removing barriers for LGBTQ+ individuals, foreign- born survivors, and other populations who face systemic obstacles to care. • Provider Standards: Forensic exam providers must deliver the highest standard of care through certified practitioners who demonstrate cultural competence, trauma- informed approaches, and current best practices in forensic examination and must meet the Forensic Exam Provider Requirements as outlined by the A/TC SARRT. Providers must also maintain responsive partnership with coordinated community response teams and the trust necessary to serve survivors effectively. The A/TC SARRT expects all providers to meet and maintain these standards as a condition of community support. • Systemic Accountability: All service providers in the continuum of service, including healthcare and law enforcement partners, must be held to the highest standards of care, including compensation structures that reflect the true cost and value of forensic examination services and legislative mandates. The Issue The A/TC SARRT is aware of SAFE Alliance's memorandum to Mayor Kirk Watson dated February 23, 2026, announcing the discontinuation of forensic examination services at Eloise House effective May 31, 2026. SAFE Alliance has been a cornerstone of this community's response to sexual violence, and we recognize the serious financial pressures driving this decision. We recognize that this moment calls for a more resilient long-term infrastructure. The A/TC SARRT's position is that the path forward must be grounded in an evidence based multi- provider model, one that sustains both SAFE Alliance and Brave Alliance, distributes capacity across the system, and ensures no single point of failure for survivors. A/TC SARRT Recommends 1. Recognize all providers as essential. Currently Brave Alliance and SAFE Alliance are both critical components of the forensic exam ecosystem in this community. Any path forward must sustain both and any other providers who meet the Forensic Exam Requirements established by the A/TC SARRT. 2. Establish equitable contracts with hospital networks who are legislatively mandated to provide forensic exam services, and ensure they bear an appropriate share of responsibility. 3. Ensure equitable law enforcement contracts with all qualified providers, recognizing that forensic examinations are integral to the criminal justice process and must be resourced accordingly. 4. Pursue a City or County owned facility, that is survivor oriented, strategically located to provide sustainable, geographically accessible coverage as a long-term infrastructure investment. SARRT’s primary goal is to ensure that 100% of survivors have meaningful access to the highest standard of forensic exam care when they are ready to come forward. We stand ready to collaborate with City and County leadership to build a sustainable coordinated response system in which no survivor in Austin or Travis County is left without the care they need and deserve. Sincerely, The Austin/Travis County SARRT Steering Committee Supporting Partners The following parties affirm their support for the A/TC SARRT's Call to Action and join in endorsing the recommendations set forth above: • Collective Sex Crimes Response Model (CSCRM) Project Steering Committee (April 17, 2026)