Foster Care & Welfare
The maximum age a youth can typically remain in foster care in most states, often with an extension program.
18 or 21
The name for the emergency medication given to victims of sexual assault to prevent potential pregnancy.
Emergency Contraception/Plan-B/Morning-After Pill
The forensic nursing process step following evidence collection, where the nurse details the child's narrative and the physical exam findings.
Documentation
A specific sub-specialty of forensic nursing that focuses on the medical investigation of death, often working with a medical examiner or coroner.
Forensic Death Investigation
The name of the process that allows an adult who is related to or has a pre-existing relationship with a child to become their foster parent.
Kinship Care
The critical first action a nurse must advise a sexual assault victim not to do before an exam to preserve evidence.
Bathing, showering, changing clothes, or using the restroom
The mandatory step a forensic nurse or any healthcare provider must take when suspecting abuse or neglect of a child, including a foster child.
Reporting it to Child Protective Services (CPS)
A critical role of the forensic nurse that involves accurately measuring, describing, and photographing injuries to preserve a visual record for court.
Injury Documentation or Evidence Preservation
This term describes the number of different placements a child experiences while in foster care.
Placement Changes/Disruption
The specific type of kit used by forensic nurses to collect biological evidence from the body of a sexual assault victim.
Forensic Exam Kit or Rape Kit
The medical term for bleeding that can be caused by violent shaking of an infant, a key finding in child physical abuse.
Subdural Hematoma and/or Retinal Hemorrhages
The role of the forensic nurse in the legal system when they are called to explain medical findings or injury patterns to a judge or jury.
Expert Witness
A legal document granting a person or agency temporary legal control over a child, often leading to placement in foster care.
Temporary Custody
This non-physical trauma must be thoroughly documented by the forensic nurse, detailing the victim's emotional state, fear, and psychological response during the exam.
Psychological Trauma or Emotional Findings
The three main types of neglect a forensic nurse might document in a foster child, including physical, emotional, and this type.
Medical Neglect
The term for an injury or condition that is inconsistent with the history or explanation provided by the caregiver, often a red flag for abuse.
Discrepant Injury
This federal law, passed in 1997, aimed to move children from foster care to permanent homes more quickly.
Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA)
This term describes the period after a sexual assault during which a SANE nurse can optimally collect biological evidence.
Window of Evidence Collection
A term that describes the long-term, adverse impact on a child's health and development resulting from multiple traumas like abuse, neglect, and placement instability.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
The legal principle that requires the forensic nurse to meticulously track the location and custody of every piece of evidence from collection to court presentation.
Chain of Custody