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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

The exam program, closed since June 8, returns January 3 under a clinical partnership with Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners

October 22nd, 2026: SAFE Alliance announces exams will resume in January

Overview

Updated Oct 24

Forensic nursing exams return to Eloise House on January 3, 2027, under a clinical partnership between SAFE Alliance and Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners. The new partner provides forensic exams in 44 Texas counties.

Exams stopped at the Austin clinic on June 8, after budget talks between SAFE and the city collapsed and the city sent the money to Brave Alliance, which now runs exams with three hospital systems. SAFE's advocates stayed on call around the clock through the gap. The January restart gives survivors a second non-hospital option and police another source of evidence.

Why it matters

Austin survivors regain a non-hospital exam option, and police a key evidence source, after a seven-month gap.

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Key Indicators

600
Forensic exams performed per year before the shutdown
Annual volume of exams Eloise House conducted before the program ended on June 8, 2026.
$5.6M
Funding losses SAFE reported across federal, state and local sources
Nearly 20% of SAFE's operating budget, cited by the nonprofit as the backdrop to the exam program's closure.
44
Texas counties where Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners provides forensic exams
The partner's coverage area, which now includes Austin.

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People Involved

PB
Pierre Berastain
Chief executive, SAFE Alliance
Announced the January 3, 2027 return of forensic exams at Eloise House
 Khara Breeden
Khara Breeden
Founder and chief executive, Forensic Center of Excellence
Leading the clinical partner that will staff Eloise House exams from January 3, 2027

Organizations Involved

SAFE Alliance
SAFE Alliance
Nonprofit social services organization
Resuming forensic exams at Eloise House on January 3, 2027 with a new clinical partner

Austin nonprofit that runs Eloise House, a 24/7 sexual assault advocacy and exam clinic.
TF
Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners (TxFNE)
Nonprofit forensic nursing network
Clinical partner staffing forensic exams at Eloise House from January 3, 2027

Nonprofit forensic nursing network that provides exams in 44 Texas counties.
EH
Eloise House
Sexual assault advocacy and exam clinic
Forensic exams to resume January 3, 2027

SAFE Alliance's dedicated clinic for sexual assault survivors, offering 24/7 advocacy, crisis intervention, and formerly forensic exams.
BA
Brave Alliance
Nonprofit sexual assault services provider
Primary forensic exam provider in Travis County under the hospital-led agreement

Alternate provider of forensic exams and support for assault survivors in Austin.

Timeline

May 2026 January 2027

6 events Latest: October 22nd, 2026 · 3 weeks ago
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  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. Former Eloise House nurses start Central Texas Forensic Care

    New provider

    Nurses who had worked at Eloise House announced a nurse-owned nonprofit to keep serving sexual assault survivors, starting with exams at hospitals. A Travis County clinic was planned as a second phase.

  4. Forensic exams end at Eloise House

    Service closure

    SAFE stopped providing forensic exams at Eloise House. Brave Alliance became the primary examiner under the hospital agreement, and SAFE's advocates kept working 24/7.

  5. Mayor announces hospital-led forensic exam plan with Brave Alliance

    Policy announcement

    Mayor Kirk Watson announced a plan, developed by Ascension Seton, Baylor Scott & White Health and St. David's HealthCare with Brave Alliance, to keep forensic exams running after SAFE's program closed.

  6. SAFE announces forensic exams at Eloise House will end

    Service closure

    SAFE Alliance announced that forensic nursing exams at Eloise House would end June 8, 2026, 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 June

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.

4

Central Texas Forensic Care opens its own Travis County clinic

Possible Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Austin Chronicle, citing former Eloise House nurse Marks

The nurses who ran Eloise House started their own nonprofit in August 2026 and planned to begin with exams at hospitals. Their second phase is a Travis County clinic like Eloise House, closer to downtown than Brave Alliance's Cedar Park site. If it opens, Austin would have three places to get a non-hospital exam.

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

(8)
+2
KVUE KUT Austin SAFE Alliance KXAN The Austin Chronicle Austin Police Department SAFE Alliance SAFE Alliance