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Domestic-violence advocates urge state support for forensic nursing program in rural regions
Summary
Umbrella and other advocates told House Healthcare that Vermont’s forensic nursing (SANE) capacity is limited in rural hospitals and asked legislators to consider sustained support and training so survivors can access trauma-informed medical and forensic care close to home.
Advocates for survivors of domestic and sexual violence asked the Vermont House Committee on Health Care on Feb. 20 to preserve and expand forensic nursing capacity, saying rural hospitals sometimes cannot provide timely forensic exams and trauma-informed care.
Amanda Cochran, executive director of Umbrella, the Northeast Kingdom nonprofit serving survivors of domestic and sexual violence, told the committee that forensic nurses provide medical and forensic evaluation, evidence collection and referrals and that those services must be available when survivors come forward. “When someone is assaulted, there are special nurses ... they're called forensic nurses,” Cochran said.
Cochran said the Vermont Forensic Nursing Program logs hundreds of exams: “In 2024, the Vermont Forensic Nursing Program recorded 406 forensic exams, and almost 20% of those exams were provided for children,” she said. Cochran and other witnesses told the committee that in rural areas the service can be inconsistent — nurses may be on vacation or not on call, which can force survivors to travel to distant hospitals for an exam.
Why it matters: forensic exams document injury, preserve evidence and connect survivors to care and legal resources; advocates said disrupted access can compound trauma and reduce the likelihood of medical follow-up or criminal prosecution.
Cochran asked lawmakers to consider the forensic-nurse workforce when they weigh changes to health-care delivery and financing. She described the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence as administering in-state training aligned with national SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) certification and said the network and member programs can provide legislators with specific funding requests.
Committee members asked for clarification on how nurses become credentialed. Cochran and staff confirmed the pathway is post-licensure training; SANE is a national certification and the Vermont program offers in-state training tied to that credentialing.
No committee action was taken; advocates asked for legislative attention to training and funding so more hospitals can offer on-call forensic nursing services and survivors need not travel far for urgent care following assault.
