§ 5-10 Evidence Protocol and Forensic Medical Examinations.
RCNY § 5-10
(a)The Department shall follow a uniform evidence protocol that maximizes the potential for obtaining usable physical evidence for administrative proceedings and criminal prosecutions.
(b)The protocol shall be developmentally appropriate for youth where applicable, and, as appropriate, shall be adapted from or otherwise based on the most recent edition of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women publication, "A National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations, Adults/Adolescents," or similarly comprehensive and authoritative protocols developed after 2011.
(c)The Department shall offer all victims of sexual abuse access to forensic medical examinations, whether on-site or at an outside facility, without financial cost, where evidentiarily or medically appropriate. Such examinations shall be performed by Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (SAFEs) or Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) where possible. If SAFEs or SANEs cannot be made available, the examination can be performed by other qualified medical practitioners. The Department shall document its efforts to provide SAFEs or SANEs.
(d)Rape crisis intervention and counseling services shall be offered and delivered to inmates in the facility in which they are housed (the "Initiative"). CHA shall be responsible for the delivery of such services by qualified victim advocates. For the purposes of this section, a qualified victim advocate is an individual who has been screened for appropriateness to serve in this role and has received education concerning sexual assault and forensic examination issues in general.
(e)As requested by the victim, a qualified victim advocate shall accompany and support the victim through the forensic medical examination process and investigatory interviews and shall provide emotional support, crisis intervention, information, and referrals.
(f)Qualified victim advocates shall assure inmates who request these services that all communications between counselors and inmates shall be kept confidential. Consistent with 40 RCNY § 5-21(b), advocates shall also inform inmates, prior to providing services, of the extent to which their communications with inmates will be monitored and the extent to which reports of sexual abuse will be forwarded to authorities in accordance with mandatory reporting laws.
(g)Services pursuant to this Initiative shall be offered as soon as possible after an incident of alleged sexual abuse is reported, but in no event later than one week after the report is received by the Department or CHA.
(h)CHA shall implement this Initiative by June 1, 2018. By June 1, 2017, CHA shall provide the Board with a written plan describing: (1) The services to be provided; (2) The credentials of the qualified victim advocates who will provide these services; (3) Inmates' access to qualified victim advocates; (4) Privacy and confidentiality of in-person, written, and telephone communications between inmates and qualified victim advocates; and (5) Communication to inmates about these services.
(i)CHA shall provide the Board with a quarterly report of the steps taken toward implementation of this Initiative. CHA shall provide the first quarterly report to the Board on July 5, 2017 with respect to the previous three (3) months (i.e., April 1, 2017 through June 30, 2017) and on the third business day of the month following the end of each quarter thereafter. CHA shall provide such reports to the Board until the Initiative is fully implemented.
(j)After implementation of this Initiative, CHA shall provide annually a written report to the Board assessing the Initiative's effectiveness, which shall include the number of inmates who received such services during the year that is the subject of the report. CHA shall provide its first annual report to the Board on July 2, 2019 with respect to the preceding year (i.e., June 1, 2018 through June 1, 2019) and within 30 days of the end of each year thereafter. (Added City Record 11/25/2016, eff. 1/2/2017)
