Governor Greg Abbott announced the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force (SASTF) issued its third Biennial Report to the Texas Legislature. The report includes policy recommendations for the 89th Legislative Session and summarizes task force activities since the last report, including the launch of a Forensic Nursing Coaching Pilot Program with the Texas A&M Health Center of Excellence in Forensic Nursing, a quarterly SASTF Webinar Series, and new trauma-informed trainings for law enforcement and hospital emergency room staff.
The Task Force Report outlined 10 recommendations to the legislature:
- Extend the right to terminate a lease to include survivors who were not assaulted in their dwelling or on the premises of their dwelling.
- Include Legal Services Information in the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Information Sheets for Sexual Assault Survivors.
- Extend consideration of impact when granting motions for continuance to include all survivors of sexual assault, regardless of family violence involvement.
- Expand right to reimbursement for Emergency Medical Care to include follow-up care for a period of 30-days.
- Expand trauma-informed training requirements for emergency room medical professionals to include ER Physicians and ER Physicians Assistants, both employed and under contract.
- Extend current two-year limit on Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) certifications to three years.
- Require County Commissioners Courts to submit Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Reports to the Governor’s Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force.
- Amend the sexual assault statute with respect to consent to provide clear protection for victims of sexual assault in circumstances not explicitly covered by current Texas law.
- Expand prohibited employment for a registered sex offender to include rideshare services.
- Allow evidence of extraneous offenses to be admissible for sexual offenses in adult sexual assault cases to explain the state of mind of the defendant and the relationship between defendant and victim.
The full report can be found here.
