Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners - Forensic Center Of Excellence

Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners - Forensic Center Of Excellence Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners Division, a Houston-based nonprofit tax-exempt entity, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) services, forensic medical examinations, victim advocacy, and counseling to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and interpersonal violence in Texas. The organization holds four prime federal grants totaling $2.7 million and participates as a sub-recipient on six additional grants worth approximately $2.2 million, concentrating on victim-centered crisis intervention and forensic nursing program development.

Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners' federal footprint centers on the Department of Justice. The Office of Justice Programs Victims of Crime program has awarded six grants, including a $499,999 Cooperative Agreement under the National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants program (CFDA 16.560) beginning October 2022 to expand SANE and advocacy services and enhance SANE education and training in underserved Houston areas. The Office on Violence Against Women has awarded two prime grants: a $1.199 million project grant under the Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program (CFDA 16.590) dated April 1, 2026, running through March 31, 2029, which funds a co-located victim service center providing medical forensic exams, forensic interviews, protection order support, legal advocacy, and crisis services; and a $499,689 award under the Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking Assistance Program (CFDA 16.589) dated October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2028, for sexual assault forensic medical examination and SANE services in rural Texas communities. The Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute on Drug Abuse account for one award each.

As a sub-recipient, Texas Forensic Nurse Examiners operates under the Texas Office of the Governor as the prime grantee across four sub-awards (dated March 28, 2022, September 27, 2023, October 8, 2024, and December 4, 2024) supporting victim service centers, forensic interviews, legal advocacy, and counseling services in Southeast Texas and the Rio Grande Valley targeting sexual assault, intimate partner violence, trafficking, and elder abuse. The organization also receives sub-award funding from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston under a youth HIV prevention intervention initiative (September 22, 2025).

Awards span ten total grants with combined obligated dollars of $4.9 million. Annual award volume has remained modest—ranging from one to three awards per year—with one award completing inside the next twenty-four months. Federal funding supports the organization's core mission of expanding access to trauma-informed forensic nursing and victim advocacy services across Texas, with particular focus on rural and underserved populations.