MONTCALM COUNTY, Mich. — Monday marked the beginning of the Child/Adolescent Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program, a service that will now be provided 24/7 out of the IMSAFE CAC building.
The voluntary medical and forensic exam documents any injuries, collects evidence, and provides care for survivors of sexual assault.
"It allows for us to get high quality evidence which leads to law enforcement with their cases," said Jill Hicks, sexual assault nurse examiner.
Before this program launched, families would travel to Grand Rapids, or Lansing for an exam. And because medical care needs to happen within 3 to 5 days after an assault, the distance became a major obstacle.
"Cost, and time, and you might be in line to get your exam done in the bigger cities," Hicks explained.
Lisa Cloman, IMSAFE's Program Director, says bringing this service under their roof removes those barriers.
"Being able to know that we have this program here, that people are going to get the best services possible, before, during and after, that's the most important thing," said Cloman.
The hope is simple: giving survivors and their families options- and access to the care they deserve in their neighborhood.
"Just bringing this to the community, it's reducing travel barriers, increasing timely access to care, and then it's just supporting the survivors close to their homes," Hicks said.
For more details on IMSAFE's services, you can click here,
"This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
