educational, and employment records), independent rape shield arguments, motions to close courtrooms or limit media access, and motions for alternative means of testifying and/or support during testifying. Each responder should be able to explain to victims the roles of other team members. Depending on the case and jurisdictional policies, other professionals or agencies - from perhaps multiple jurisdictions - may also be involved in immediate interventions and service provision. They need information about the SART/SARRT and its procedures to guide their responses and facilitate coordination of activities with the SART/SARRT. SART/SARRT members also need information about those professionals and agencies, their roles in sexual assault response, and how to contact and interact with them. Team efforts are enhanced when SART/SARRT members reflect the communities being served. At the least, SART/SARRT members should strive to understand the needs and concerns of specific populations living in the area served. SART/SARRTs should reach out to agencies that serve these populations so that team members can promptly access their services if needed. See Appendix B for more information on the creation of SARTs/SARRTs. Membership of a coordinating council. A coordinating council typically comprises a wide array of professionals and citizens who develop the community’s response to sexual assault. Organizations with an interest in or a responsibility for sexual assault victims should be considered for membership.32 For example, members might include33 victim advocates; legal services providers (civil, criminal, and immigration); survivors of sexual assault and their families and friends; health care workers; public health and safety officials; law enforcement personnel; prosecutors; victim/witness staff; judicial personnel;34 corrections and probation staff; sex offender treatment providers; forensic lab personnel; staff from mental health agencies; personnel serving persons with disabilities; substance abuse treatment staff, staff from residential living settings such as nursing homes, assisted living programs, and group homes; educators from all levels; legislators and government policymakers; exam site administrators; religious and spiritual leaders; and the media and business community. Representation from all levels of government that potentially have jurisdiction over these cases in the area served should be involved. Equally important are members who can address the needs of diverse populations in the community (e.g., racial and cultural groups, senior citizens, persons with disabilities, immigrants, the poor and homeless, runaways and adolescents in foster care, domestic violence victims, college students, military personnel and dependents, and populations with differing sexual orientations and gender identities or expressions). Agencies that provide qualified interpreters in sexual assault cases should also be invited to participate. Attempting to involve all agencies and individuals listed above is an enormous task and could prove to be a barrier to council formation and initial council efforts. Therefore, communities should make their own decisions about which stakeholders are critical to initial efforts and form a core membership, and then 31 In addition to seeking prosecution of offenders, victims who attend institutions of higher education may have the option of filing disciplinary charges. When that happens, members of the judiciary board review the case to decide if the institutional code of conduct has been violated and, if so, to determine sanctions. Tribes may also have their own codes related to sexual assault and/or processes through which victims can seek remedies, beyond what is available through state or federal prosecution. 32 American College of Emergency Physicians’ Evaluation and Management of the Sexually Assaulted or Sexually Abused Patient, 1999, p. 19. 33 List adapted from the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Evaluation and Management of the Sexually Assaulted or Sexually Abused Patient, 1999, p. 19. 34 Judges’ conduct in and out of the courtroom is governed by a code of judicial conduct that requires that they do nothing that would give the appearance of partiality. Depending on local interpretation of the code, the participation of judicial personnel on a council should not negate their ability to be impartial in court. In the unlikely instance that the council is involved with individual cases, judges can excuse themselves from those activities. 26 identify which agencies and individuals would be useful to have at the table at some point but are not essential to getting started.35 Develop quality assurance measures to ensure effective response during the exam process. Involved agencies should have mechanisms to ensure that the quality of discipline-specific response and coordinated response is optimal. Some tools to ensure consistent high-quality response by involved professionals include training, ongoing education, supervision, periodic performance evaluations, and peer reviews (e.g., medical forensic reports). Also useful in facilitating improvements to immediate response are feedback from victims and involved professionals and collection and analysis of data from the exam process (as discussed below). Review of both