Santa Clara County Supervisors Tuesday allocated $200,000 to a new pilot program to help domestic violence victims whose partner tried to strangle them.
The county will partner with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and the Santa Clara Police Department to respond to victims who are 12 years old and older.
Law enforcement officers will ask victims if they consent to a hospital visit and will be provided transportation to the county's Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose where they can undergo a medical forensic evaluation of their throats, neck, head and other injury areas.
Victims must consent to participate in the program, which the county estimates could serve up to 100 participants in the first six months through June 30, 2020.
The pilot program will last for six months. The program comes following the county's decision last week to staff a 24/7 sexual assault exam team to assist domestic violence victims in Palo Alto.
The Sexual Assault Forensic Exam Team, which is part of the county's Office of Gender-Based Violence Prevention - a new office created in September - will also be assisting with the pilot program.
