Date of Award

Spring 2019

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Department/Major

Health Science

First Advisor

Carrie Sanderson

Second Advisor

Angela Landeen

Third Advisor

Chelsea Wesner

Keywords

Child Maltreatment, DCI, SAC

Abstract

The average number of sexual assaults occurring in South Dakota from 2012 thru 2017 was 759. Yet, there is no data collection system to track sexual assault exam kits. The main aspects of this paper are identifying the issue of sexual assault exam data collection in South Dakota and providing possible solutions to this issue. The recommendations provided are based off of a national review and analysis of successful programs currently in practice in other states, as well as public health theories for implementation of a new product or innovation. The process of how the national review was carried out is provided along with its successes and failures. No program is perfect, but the state of Idaho is pioneering in implementing a statewide sexual assault kit exam tracking system that is successfully catalyzing change. It is a free program designed to be shared with other public entities and with the capability to be modified to best fit the needs of the respective adopting agency. South Dakota is beginning at ground zero and would benefit from adopting the model that has been developed in Idaho. Idaho’s model makes it possible for an entire state and its respective agencies to collaborate efficiently with key information to better work together in fighting for best practices in response to sexual assault.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.