Pull to refresh
Logo
SAFE Alliance to bring back forensic nursing exams at Eloise House next year

SAFE Alliance to bring back forensic nursing exams at Eloise House next year

New Capabilities Austin, TX local

Nonprofit's exam program, shut down in May over a funding shortfall, returns January 3 with a new partner

Yesterday: SAFE Alliance announces exams will resume in January

Overview

Updated 1 hour ago

Austin's SAFE Alliance will resume forensic nursing exams for sexual assault survivors at its Eloise House clinic in January, five months after a nearly $2 million operating shortfall forced the program to shut down. The nonprofit announced Thursday it will partner with Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners, a nonprofit network running more than 200 exam facilities across the state.

The May closure pushed survivors to hospital emergency departments for evidence collection, ending a dedicated non-hospital option. Resuming the program restores the choice CEO Pierre Berastain says survivors deserve and rebuilds the evidence pipeline that Austin police and district attorneys use to prosecute sexual violence.

Why it matters

Austin sexual assault survivors get a non-hospital exam option back, and police regain a key evidence source after an eight-month gap.

Monday: what changed in Austin, TX

One short email a week with the openings, closings, permits and council votes we covered. Free. Unsubscribe in one click.

Questions about this story

Free account needed to ask — your question is kept and asked for you right after sign-up. Answers are public.

No questions yet — be the first to ask.

Key Indicators

600
Forensic exams performed per year before the shutdown
Annual volume of exams Eloise House conducted before the program ended in May.
~$2M
Operating shortfall that ended the program
SAFE Alliance fell short by nearly $2 million in operating costs, triggering the May closure.
200+
Facilities in the Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners network
Exam sites operated by the Forensic Center of Excellence across Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, North Texas, and soon Austin.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

Sign up to generate historical perspectives on this story.

People Involved

Organizations Involved

Timeline

May 2026 January 2027

3 events Latest: Yesterday
  1. Forensic exams scheduled to resume at Eloise House

    Upcoming Service resumption

    Forensic nursing exams are set to restart at Eloise House under the partnership with Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners.

  2. SAFE Alliance announces exams will resume in January

    Latest Announcement

    The nonprofit said it will restart forensic exams at Eloise House on January 3, 2027, with funding and nurses from Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners.

  3. Forensic exam program suspended at Eloise House

    Service closure

    SAFE Alliance ended forensic nursing exams at Eloise House after falling nearly $2 million short on operating costs. Advocacy services continued.

Scenarios

1

Eloise House exams return on schedule and hold steady

Likely Resolves by Apr 30, 2027

Discussed by: KUT and SAFE Alliance announcements

Nurses from Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners begin exams January 3 as announced, and the partnership covers enough of Eloise House's operating costs to keep the program running through 2027. Survivors regain a non-hospital option alongside Brave Alliance and hospital emergency departments.

2

Funding gap returns, exam program at risk again

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: KUT, citing the nearly $2 million shortfall that ended the program in May

The TxFNE partnership provides nurses and some funding, but the underlying operating-cost gap persists. If outside support falls short, SAFE again warns of suspension or reduces exam hours, repeating the May 2026 pattern.

3

Austin builds a true multi-provider exam ecosystem

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: SAFE Alliance CEO Pierre Berastain

Berastain's stated goal is a system where survivors have multiple non-hospital options, not just one provider. If Eloise House's return encourages more investment in exam capacity, survivors could gain real choice among providers rather than shifting back to a single clinic.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1976

Minneapolis hosts first SANE program (1976)

A group of nurses in Minneapolis set up the first Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program, training nurses to conduct forensic exams and collect evidence without a physician-led examination.

Then

Minneapolis survivors gained a dedicated, trained response outside emergency rooms.

Now

The nurse-examiner model spread nationwide and became the standard for specialized sexual assault evidence collection, the model Eloise House and TxFNE follow.

Why this matters now

Eloise House is part of this 50-year tradition of dedicated forensic nursing, which the May closure interrupted and the January resumption restores.

2009

Detroit rape kit backlog surfaces (2009)

A police audit in Detroit found more than 11,000 untested rape kits sitting in storage, some for decades, after evidence was collected but never processed.

Then

The backlog triggered a multi-year effort to test the kits and reopen cases.

Now

It exposed how failures in the evidence pipeline stall prosecutions and spurred national reform and funding for rape-kit testing.

Why this matters now

When the exam pipeline breaks, as it did in Austin in May, evidence collection stops and prosecutions suffer. The resumption restores a critical link in that chain.

Sources

(3)