Safe Passage

Safe Passage’s Sexual Assault Response Services are designed to support teen and adult survivors of sexual violence to receive support, understand their options, and increase their safety. Safe Passage provides client-centered advocacy, 24 hour hospital response, information about Crime Victims Compensation, safety planning, information and referrals to primary and secondary victims of sexual assault, and coordination of services with other partner agencies. Key partners include law enforcement, medical providers, Title IX Coordinators, prosecutors, and participants on the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART).

This Center opened its doors at its current location in 2012 through a collaborative effort that included Kootenai Health, city and county law enforcement, the county prosecutor, mental health providers, Safe Passage, and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. The Children’s Advocacy Center is a critical component to providing quality, prosecutable investigations and subsequent legal cases involving the physical or sexual abuse of children. The facility is located within the Kootenai Health campus, providing a child-friendly environment, forensic interviews, advocacy for non-offending caregivers, and medical exams (if necessary)- all offered with the intent to lower the likelihood of further trauma for children by reducing the number of times they have to tell their story. For investigators and prosecutors, services offered at the Center mean a quicker follow-up to child abuse reports, better collection of information with less chance of case contamination, and coordinated investigations that lead to more effective prosecution and intervention outcomes. To the child and non-offending caregivers, the Center reduces the number of forensic interviews and provides prompt, attentive, and culturally sensitive services. Last year, the Children’s Advocacy Center officially joined Safe Passage and became a program within the agency.

The Court Program at Safe Passage aims to increase safety for survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their children. Court Program staff are responsible for orienting survivors to the services available through the court actions and navigating the legal system. In 2012, Kootenai County received support from the Office on Violence against Women to create a Domestic Violence (DV) Court and in 2015, this funding was renewed for an additional three years. Kootenai County's DV Court was created in an effort to foster better outcomes and increase safety for victims of domestic violence and their children, improve accountability for offenders, increase coordination and communication across partner agencies, use the judicial system effectively and ensure that victims have accurate and comprehensive information throughout the process. In addition, the DV Court model has enabled Safe Passage’s advocates to help prosecution and the judge understand the unique challenges that a survivor is facing to ensure that the judicial system takes her perspective into account. An advocate's presence continues to be a critical component of Safe Passage’s portfolio of services.

In addition to supporting survivors with cases in DV Court, Safe Passage’s court advocates assist survivors with civil and criminal justice support, appropriate referrals for family law and other legal assistance, safety planning and advocacy.

While the majority of Safe Passage's efforts are focused on supporting victims of crime, education and outreach efforts aim to raise awareness in the community to reduce and prevent future abuse. This program has grown substantially over the last several years and now includes three key component:
• Prevention education: primarily directed at middle school and high school students, prevention education focuses on disseminating healthy relationship curriculum, raising awareness about teen dating violence, and promoting safe technology practices. Classroom presentations and curriculum are offered to schools throughout the 5 northern counties.
• Bystander intervention training: On a more limited basis, Safe Passage is partnering with local schools in Kootenai County to implement Green Dot, a bystander intervention training program as another tool for preventing and reducing violence in schools.
• Prevention and Intervention: This year, both Lake City and Coeur d’Alene High Schools began contracting with Safe Passage to implement activities within their Prevention Specialist scope of work to provide more on-site support to prevent potential violence while also offering teens who were experiencing violence on-site advocacy services and support.

Safe Passage’s free Counseling is a critical service offered primarily to survivors of sexual and domestic violence and children exposed to these crimes. Safe Passage plans to continue to offer this service at the Safe Passage office, but would like to expand this program to provide clinical, trauma focused assessments to children at the Children’s Advocacy Center in an effort to offer the most appropriate referrals for ongoing mental health services.