Understanding the Role of a SART in the Community

Over nine months ago, I stepped into three new roles: Tu Casa Program Director, SART Coordinator, and Hotline Supervisor. I felt pretty confident that, with some training and guidance from our Executive Director and support from our staff, I would be able to fulfill my responsibilities as the Program Director and Hotline Supervisor effectively and successfully. The SART Coordinator role, however, was a different story.

SART? I thought to myself, What exactly is a SART?

I was a little confused and, honestly, a little nervous that I had agreed to coordinate something I did not completely understand—even after reading several articles about SARTs.

SART stands for Sexual Assault Response Team. A SART is a multidisciplinary, interagency collaboration that brings together professionals to provide a coordinated, victim-centered and offender-focused response to sexual assault in the community.

What? That’s a lot of words!

Let’s break it down.

A SART brings together professionals from different agencies and disciplines who each have an important role in responding to sexual assault. Members of the multidisciplinary team typically include victim advocates, health care providers, law enforcement, prosecutors, and local social service organizations.

The role of the advocate is to provide support, information, referrals, crisis intervention, and safety planning. Advocates help survivors navigate systems, access services, and complete paperwork. But advocacy is about much more than completing tasks. Advocates bear witness. They listen. They believe. They empower. They help survivors understand their options and make decisions about what is right for them.

The role of law enforcement is to provide for the safety of the community and the survivor while conducting a professional and thorough response. Law enforcement gathers information and develops a factual history of the reported assault to determine whether the circumstances meet the criteria of a crime and to investigate what happened.

The role of the prosecutor is to promote the safety of the community and the survivor by pursuing appropriate criminal charges and holding offenders accountable when the evidence supports prosecution.

The role of the medical professional is to address the immediate medical and forensic needs of the patient. Medical professionals provide care, collect and preserve forensic evidence when appropriate, and create factual and neutral medical documentation. They may also provide expert testimony in cases that proceed to trial.

Although each professional has a different role, a SART works because those roles come together as part of a coordinated response.

At the heart of that response is a victim-centered approach. Being victim-centered means giving time and consideration to the survivor’s needs, wishes, concerns, rights, and choices throughout the medical and criminal justice response. It means recognizing that every survivor’s circumstances are different and that the professionals involved must work together to support the survivor while respecting their autonomy.

A victim-centered approach also requires SART members to understand and respect one another’s roles. No single agency or professional can meet every need of a survivor. Collaboration allows each discipline to contribute its expertise while working toward a common goal.

At the same time, SARTs use an offender-focused lens. This means keeping the focus of the investigation on the actions and behaviors of the person accused of committing the assault rather than placing responsibility on the survivor. The survivor should not have to carry the burden of explaining, defending, or justifying what happened to them.

When I first accepted the SART Coordinator position, I was unsure of what I had gotten myself into. Nine months later, I have a much better understanding of what a SART is—and, more importantly, why it matters.

A SART is not simply a group of professionals who meet together. It is a commitment to working together, understanding one another’s roles, sharing knowledge, and creating a coordinated response for survivors of sexual assault.

At its best, a SART reminds us that no single person or agency has to do this work alone. We each bring a different piece of the response, and when those pieces come together, we can provide a more coordinated, informed, and supportive response to survivors in our community.