[directive] SUBJECT:  Expanding the Timeframe for Multidisciplinary Response to Victims of Sexual Assault  New Jersey has stood at the forefront of providing services to adolescent and adult victims of sexual violence.  As an early adopter of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) and Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) models of care, in 1997, New Jersey launched pilot programs in several counties providing sexual assault forensic exams to survivors of sexual violence.  Due to the overwhelming success of the pilot programs, in 1998, New Jersey was the first state in the nation to legislate the establishment of a SART in every county.  This multidisciplinary victim- centered approach ensured every victim in the state was afforded access to coordinated trauma- informed services from the moment the victim reached out for help.  Based on scientific limitations existing at the time, the coordinated SART response was initially limited to the first seventy-two hours after an incident of sexual violence had occurred, but was later expanded to five days as forensic and social sciences research supported benefits beyond the acute phase of an assault.  As forensic science capabilities evolve, so must our law enforcement guidance.  Expanding the SART standard activation and response time further is well supported by research and will provide more victims of sexual violence with an opportunity to access available services.  Forensic nurses, sexual violence response advocates, and specially trained law enforcement professionals can better serve victims by utilizing a trauma-informed and victim-centered approach even in situations where the victim has delayed disclosure seven or more days after the incident.  Depending upon several factors related to the nature and extent of the trauma, injuries to skin surfaces including lacerations and bruises may still be visible upon assessment by a forensic examinations.1,2 nurse well beyond the current five-day limit for forensic medical Further, 1 [...], et al., Detection of Inflicted Bruises by Alternate Light: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial, 65 J. FORENSIC SCI. 1191, 1194–95 (2020).  2  [...] & [...], Bruise Dating Using Deep Learning, 66 J. FORENSIC SCI. 336, 343–45 (2021).  extending the forensic examination time frame to seven days for the collection of biological practices.3,4 samples for potential DNA analysis is supported by national protocol and best  The scientific literature supports conducting a physical examination for identification of injuries and collection of specimens for DNA analysis beyond the five-day timeframe currently in effect in New Jersey.  As early as 2008, forensic scientists reported the ability to successfully test post-coital samples using a Y-STR method specifically for the identification of male donor DNA samples.5 in small or mixed  By 2012, multiple sources validated the ability to produce male DNA profiles from post-coital vaginal samples recovered up to nine days after an incident under certain conditions.6,7  Offering victims who delay disclosure of sexual violence the opportunity to meet with a forensic nurse examiner and a sexual violence response advocate may improve outcomes for these police.8,9 victims regardless of their decision to report the incident to  If the victim later chooses to pursue police investigation of the incident, well-prepared medical documents, appropriately stored specimens, and photographic images of the examination, will likely improve the potential for prosecution.10  successful outcomes of investigation and  Therefore, pursuant to the authority granted to me under the New Jersey Constitution and the Criminal Justice Act of 1970, N.J.S.A. 52:17B-97 to -117, which provides for the general supervision of criminal justice by the Attorney General as chief law-enforcement officer of the State in order to secure the benefits of a uniform and efficient enforcement of the criminal law and 3 OFF.