Free Webinar: Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Resources for Healthcare Professionals

Overview:

Discussing sexual assault/abuse and intimate partner violence with your patients can feel daunting and intimidating. You might worry about being intrusive or maybe you are unsure what to say to a patient who shares their experiences of abuse with you. Perhaps you are concerned about time constraints or making a report to law enforcement.

This webinar will provide best practice and resources to healthcare professionals and their community partners surrounding concerns of sexual assault and domestic violence. South Dakota’s Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault and the Department of Public Safety will share resources for healthcare providers available for domestic violence/sexual assault victims; discuss special circumstances and processes for victims of all ages; and provide guidance on the criminal justice response surrounding victims of violence.

Presenters:

Krista Heeren-Graber is the Executive Director of the South Dakota Network Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault and has been in that role since 1999.  Prior to 1999, Krista worked in a variety of roles at Children’s Inn in Sioux Falls where she served as the Operations Director for the last two years there.  Krista has a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a Masters degree in Counseling and Human Resource Development. She is a licensed social worker in SD and acts as an adjunct professor for the University of Sioux Falls.  In her current role, Krista provides training, technical assistance and consultation.  She travels the state working with direct services providers and provides training specifically for law enforcement.  Krista serves as an expert witness for many criminal and civil court cases and has been a peer reviewer for the Office of Justice since 2005.

Cora Olson is the Director of the DPS – Victim Services Program, which serves as the state administering agency for victim-related grant funding as well as responsible for Crime Victim Compensation.  Before accepting the position as the Director of SDVS, she served as the East River Victim Specialist for the South Dakota Highway Patrol’s Crash Assistance Program. In addition to serving crash victims’ she served as the Highway Patrol representative on SD CART (Child Abduction Response Team) and the East River Human Trafficking task force. She worked to organize training and education to troopers on serving human trafficking victims should they intercept victims on our state’s highways. During this time she was rewarded with the opportunity to present nationally at International Associate of Chiefs of Police conferences and more on the topic of the benefits for law enforcement implementation of inter-agency victims’ services. Before working as a victim specialist with the Highway Patrol, Cora served 13 years as a full-time law enforcement officer/detective. Here she served on various community coordinated teams and boards with an effort to enhance the South Dakota State University Police Department’s involvement in crime prevention, community safety, and trauma-informed victim services. These include the Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter and ER Sexual Assault Response Team. She successfully investigated multiple rape and sexual assault investigations leading to the arrest and conviction of the offender. Most notably, the Serial rapes of 2010, which occurred on the SDSU campus and Brookings. She also developed and presented multiple public education presentations on the topics of drugs, alcohol, highway safety, self-defense for women, crime prevention, environmental and behavioral threat assessment, domestic violence, sexual assault stalking, harassment, and law enforcement’s role in providing victim services.

Continuing Education:

SDAHO is the South Dakota affiliate of LeadingAge, an approved provider of continuing education in nursing home administration by the South Dakota Board of Nursing Facility Administrators. There are 1.2 contact hours available to nursing home administrators for participation in this education.

SDAHO is approved as a provider for continuing education by the South Dakota Board of Social Work Examiners, 135 East Illinois, Suite 214, Spearfish, SD 57783, SDBSWE Approval Period:  January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2020, Provider #1012.  Social workers will receive up to 1.2 continuing education contact hours or .12 CEU’s at this education.

Registration:

Participation in this webinar is free, however prior registration is required. Connection information will be emailed to registrants prior to the webinar.