Increased services to victims of sexual assault and their families are now available on the Eastside due to an expanded partnership between King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) and EvergreenHealth. Through EvergreenHealth, KCSARC will offer access for vital services including: trauma focused therapy, legal advocacy, 24-hour telephone support and parent education.
On September 30, the Children’s Response Center (CRC), a program of Harborview Medical Center / UW Medicine, housed on the Overlake Campus – Bellevue, closed its doors. Through a partnership between KCSARC and the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress (HCSATS) services previously offered by CRC continue to be available on the Eastside. KCSARC will provide counseling, legal advocacy, and outreach at EvergreenHealth – Redmond. Additionally, counseling and prevention/education services are being provided by HCSATS at the Together Center – Redmond. These partnerships have not only ensured an easy transition for current clients of CRC, they have also enabled KCSARC and HCSATS to increase the availability of services on the Eastside to reach more adults, children and families. Additionally, the KCSARC/ EvergreenHealth partnership provides a service location for KCSARC’s Project 360, which addresses the prevalence of sexual assault among homeless youth.
EvergreenHealth established its Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (S.A.N.E) program over five years ago; and created a resource to provide medical evaluations for victims of sexual assault at EvergreenHealth’s Level III trauma centers. Currently the program has 8 active nurses who have undergone 60 hours of training and an additional 6 nurses in training. As a result of the S.A.N.E. program, 55% more victims of sexual assault sought care at EvergreenHealth in 2012. With the KCSARC staff onsite, EvergreenHealth increasingly meets the needs of sexual assault victims and their families by providing on-site clinical services and outreach to the entire Eastside community.
Barbara Jensen, the Trauma and Preparedness Program Manager at EvergreenHealth states that, “EvergreenHealth is passionate about providing immediate follow-up care and resources for victims of sexual assault on the Eastside. KCSARC’s presence at EvergreenHealth enables us to offer our patient population and their families access to all of the services and follow-up care they require without leaving the immediate area.”
“The EvergreenHealth/KCSARC program demonstrates innovation and community involvement by providing onsite access to state-of-the-art empirically based therapies for PTSD and other emotional and behavioral conditions among patients affected by abuse and trauma,” says Mary Ellen Stone, Executive Director of KCSARC. She adds, “With KCSARC onsite at EvergreenHealth we can be on the front line with victims of sexual assault, their families. Last year we assisted over 200 Eastside residents in addition to victims throughout King County. This partnership will ensure that Eastside victims of sexual assault and their families receive the help they need.”
King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) founded in 1976, is a non-profit organization that ensures all people affected by sexual violence and abuse get the treatment they need and the advocacy they deserve. KCSARC is at the forefront of change, guiding public policy development and delivering research-based education to create safer environments for everyone.