Commission on the Standardization of the Collection of Evidence in Sexual Assault Investigations
Minutes of Meeting of June 15, 2020
The meeting was called to order at 3 p.m. The meeting was conducted remotely utilizing Microsoft Teams with directives issued by the Governor because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Attendance: Maureen Platt, Chair, Candida Fusco, Denise Covington, Jim Kenny, Karen Jubanyik, M.D., Lucy Nolan, Marielle Daniels, Monica Ponzello, Brian Narkewicz, Kristin M, Sasinouski, Scott Casper, M.D., John Leventhal, M.D., Nina Livingston, M.D., Alex Arroyo
The minutes for the March meeting were reviewed and approved.
Denise Covington reported on the SAFE program. She reported that the program had continued to operate during the COVID closures and that advocates continued to support victims by phone. Denise stated that there were 27 SAFES currently in the program. However, approximately eight SAFES are on leave due to the COVID pandemic. She also stated that the number of activations was down but was slowly increasing. The Spring class has also been cancelled, but as of the date of the meeting, the Fall class was still scheduled.
Marielle Daniels discussed the issue of the need for the consent of minors for examinations using the CT-100 and CT-400 kits. It was decided that we would review the language once again to determine if it was appropriate. The language would then be sent out to members of the Commission for review.
Denise Covington reported on the permanent sub-committee to revise the Technical Guidelines. She stated that that the Committee will again begin reviewing the guidelines and report back to the full Commission.
Kristin Sasinouski reported on the progress of the mechanism to allow for victim access to the results of the sexual assault kit analysis. She stated that the Trackpad has been operational for quite some time. The Alliance in the OVS are working together to finalize the "Tracking Sheet" which will provide the victim instructions on how to access their kit results within the Trackpad.
Dr. Leventhal asked about what if any changes are being made to the hospital compensation rates. This discussion was tabled until the next meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 4 p.m.