ABOUT CALSAFE

Malinda Wheeler

President 

Malinda is currently the owner and President of a private program called Forensic Nurse Specialists, Inc, in Los Alamitos. This is a professional corporation with multiple examination sites located in Los Angeles County and Orange County which provides forensic evidentiary examinations 24 hours per day to law enforcement for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. She holds several various contracts with cities, universities, counties and hospital systems.

Malinda is currently President of CalSAFE and Education Director, past board member of the International Association of Forensic Nurses and is Founding President of the So. California Chapter of IAFN. She was co-director for adult and pediatric courses at California Clinical Forensic Medical Training Center for several years. She was co-chair of the Los Angeles Sexual Assault Coordinating Council for 4 years and helped established certification requirements for all SART Centers in Los Angeles County. Malinda has consulted and lectured extensively on Sexual Assault, Child Sexual Abuse, Domestic Violence, Strangulation and Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault.
Malinda has been a registered nurse since 1981 and a Family Nurse Practitioner since 1996 and is currently dual certified as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner in Adult and Pediatrics. As President of CalSAFE, Malinda believes in establishing affordable and always available education for sexual assault forensic examiners in California and to build mentoring relationships among teams throughout California.

​She is nationally certified as a sexual assault nurse examiner in the areas of pediatrics, adolescents and adults. For the past 25 years, Malinda has been the owner and director of Forensic Nurse Specialists, Inc. Forensic Nurse Specialists is a private practice/business which provides forensic evidentiary examinations 24 hours per day to law enforcement for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. She holds several contracts with cities, universities, counties and hospital systems. Forensic Nurse Specialists currently provides services to over 55 law enforcement agencies in the Los Angeles and Orange county area.

Malinda is past member on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Forensic Nurses, Forensic Nurse Certification Board and is Founding President of the So. California Chapter of IAFN. She was co-chair of the Los Angeles Sexual Assault Coordinating Council for 4 years and helped established certification requirements for all SART Centers in Los Angeles County. Currently Malinda is a board member with the Children’s Advocacy Center in Covina, as well as a child forensic interviewer with the CAC. Malinda is currently a trainer and consultant for the California Clinical Forensic Medical Training Center. She has helped develop curriculum for the state law enforcement educational requirements on sexual assault and domestic violence. Malinda has consulted and lectured extensively on Sexual Assault, Child Sexual Abuse, Domestic Violence, Strangulation and Drug Facilitated Sexual Assault. Strangulation Expertise- National Strangulation Expert Training Institute, San Diego Family Justice Center; advisor and consultant since 2012. Malinda has consulted or testified on over 30 strangulation cases in court and trains extensively with attorneys, law enforcement and medical professionals.

Yvonne Bennett

Secretary

Yvonne is currently the Program Manager for the Sexual Assault and Forensic Evaluation (S.A.F.E.) Clinic at Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley. Yvonne attained her BSN in 1997 and her Juris Doctorate (JD) in 2005. Yvonne is also SANE-A and SANE-P certified. Yvonne became a forensic examiner in 2007 and became the Program Manager in 2017. Since taking over the SAFE Clinic, she has expanded services to include Domestic Violence, Suspect, and Forensic Assault exams. She also helped usher in the region’s first written Strangulation Protocol at RUHS Medical Center.
Yvonne has pledged to Start by Believing! #StartByBelieving Campaign

Sarah Cooper

Board Member

Sarah is co-owner of a private program in Bakersfield called Kern County Forensic Services, LLC, (KCFS) and is made up of five nurse examiners who are partners. They offer many types of forensic examinations to law enforcement, including sexual assault exams (all ages), physical assault/abuse exams, postmortem exams, and domestic violence exams.

Sarah graduated from California State University Bakersfield with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing in 2003 and began her nursing career in the CCU (cardiac critical care unit) and ICU, and then ED. While working in the ED she was exposed to forensic patients. Sarah attended her first SANE/SAFE training in 2003 and began examining sexual assault victims. In 2009, Sarah returned to school and obtained her Clear School Nursing Credential from California State University Fresno and transitioned from working in the ED full-time to being a full-time school nurse. At the same time, she remained the team leader of her hospital-based SART program and focused on improving her forensic nursing program in Kern County. Sarah started a collaborative team, Kern SART, and began monthly meetings with county law enforcement and advocacy collaborators to improve the team-approach and response to victims. In 2012, Sarah also was one of the founding members of Kern Coalition Against Human Trafficking.

In 2014, Sarah expanded her skills beyond adolescent/adult to include pediatric examination, domestic violence and child physical abuse examination, and postmortem/autopsy forensic examinations. Sarah is nationally certified as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner in Adult/Adolescent/Pediatrics, Public Health Nurse and School Nurse.

Angela Vickers

Board Member

Sally Wilson

Board Member

Hillary Larkin

Vice-​President

Hillary Larkin, PA-C is the Lead Physician Assistant and the Clinical Director of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Services at Alameda Health System- Highland Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine and the Co-Chair of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team. She trained at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and completed a postgraduate fellowship in Emergency Medicine at Los Angeles County, University of Southern California. Hillary developed the SART team at Highland Hospital in1996, and currently has a Team of 18 Advance Practice Practitioners. Hillary has published original research and received the Journal of Forensic Nursing Research Article of the Year Award 2012. She is a founding member of the California Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Association and of Med Report Guard Technology.

Michelle Shores

Immediate Past President

Michelle Shores, RN, MSN, MBA-HC, CEN, SANE-A, SANE-P is a forensic nurse examiner in Riverside County and the Program Director for Forensic Health Services in San Diego County. The Forensic Health Services program provides services to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence and is a nationally accredited child advocacy center.

Michelle graduated with her bachelor's degree in nursing in 2005 and began working as an emergency department trauma nurse in 2006. In 2012 Michelle earned her master's degree in nursing and master's degree in business. Michelle was a clinical nursing instructor, is a certified emergency nurse, International Association of Forensic Nurse certified SANE-A (adolescent/adult) and SANE-P (pediatrics) and a certified trauma nurse instructor (TNCC). She has been a ling standing member of the International Association for Forensic Nursing, and has worked as a forensic nurse for over seven years.

Michelle cares for pediatric, adolescent, and adult victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. She was co-chair for the San Diego County Sexual Assault Response Team Steering Committee from 2015-2019, an executive member for the San Diego Domestic Violence Council (SDDVC), is the current chair for the San Diego Domestic Violence Council Medical Committee, an member of the San Diego County High Risk Domestic Violence Team, a board member of the Child Advocacy Centers of California (CACC) state advisory committee, serves as a member on both the medical advisory and traumatic brain injury committees and is a training faculty for the Strangulation Institute for prevention with the Alliance for Hope International, and the president of the Association of California Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (CALSAFE). In 2018, she introduced the idea for AB 3189 (Family Code 6930) along with the CALSAFE team. AB 3189 was a bill that provides minor victims of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) the right to consent to medical care and forensic exams in the state of California. AB 3189 was signed into law September 2018 and became family code 6930. Michelle implemented the program, at Forensic Health Services, to perform Forensic medical evidentiary exams for victims of domestic violence, strangulation, general assault, gang violence, human trafficking, and elder abuse. This is also known as the Domestic Assault Forensic Exam or DAFE.

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Michelle has worked with the California Clinical Forensic Medical Training Center (CCFMTC) team to provide training to examiners. Michelle is a contributor for the workbook Manual Non-Fatal Strangulation Assessment: For Healthcare and First Responders and Adolescent and Adult Sexual Assault Assessment, Second Addition. She is the 2017 winner on the San Diego County SART with a HEART Award, the 2018 Riverside County SART Nurse of the Year award, the 2018 San Diego Domestic Violence Council Lifetime Achievement award, November 2018 CARE award that recognized her as a leader in the community and excellence as a forensic nurse examiner. Also, the 2014 nationally recognized DAISY Award, by the family of J. Patrick Barnes foundation which recognized Michelle’s extraordinary nursing care as” intuitive in assessing what type of needs a patient has beyond their physical presentation … strong advocate for women, children and victims of assault … patients, family, and staff trust Michelle because of her commitment to providing outstanding patient care.” Michelle is married and is the mother of two boys. She enjoys collaborating with the multidisciplinary team and the exam can be the victim’s voluntary first step toward healing and justice.

Gina D'Aquilla

Board Member

Gina is currently the program manager at Dignity Health Northridge Hospital, Center for Assault Treatment Services (CATS). Ms. D'Aquilla’s experience as a registered nurse began in the acute care settings of the hospital at a level two trauma center. In 2012, Ms. D'Aquilla joined Ventura County's forensic program as a sexual assault nurse examiner. Forensics quickly became a passion for her, leading her to a full-time forensic career. In 2014, she was promoted to Forensic Examiner Program Coordinator, overseeing the medical coordination of Ventura County's two nationally accredited Child Advocacy Centers. With an understanding of the importance of training and incorporating best forensic practice, she developed many standardized procedures and policies governing the examination of victims of interpersonal violence of people suspected of committing sexual assault.

In the spring of 2019, Ms. D'Aquilla completed her graduate degree, earning a Master's in Forensic Science from National University. Her master's research investigated whether the name children were taught to identify their genitals delayed their disclosure of abuse. After graduation, she presented her findings at a national conference. Gina is currently pursuing her second graduate degree at the University of Texas Arlington. She is scheduled to graduate in December of 2023 with a Master's in Nursing and Nurse Practitioner degree.

As the program Manager at CATS, Gina will have the opportunity to work with various agencies throughout the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita areas and is excited to continue along with her team to provide the best forensic practice.

Kim Walker

Board Member

Kim Walker graduated from San Jose State with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and specialized in high-risk obstetrics. She worked 10 years in the Labor and Delivery and Neonatal ICU departments at Good Samaritan Hospital.

Jacquelin Winters-Hall

Board Member

Jacqueline is the current SANE Coordinator at Enloe Medical Center, a level II trauma center in Chico, serving Butte, Glenn and the surrounding rural counties. Jacqueline was fundamental in establishing the Enloe SAFE program in 2010.
Jacqueline develops and updates hospital policies and community response team protocols. She provides training to medical staff, law enforcement agencies, advocacy groups, nonprofit organizations, community groups, public health, and academics. She teaches locally and has travelled nationally lecturing on a variety of topics, including rapid DNA service, forensic nursing, sexual assault, interpersonal violence, commercially sexually exploited children, human trafficking, interpersonal violence, strangulation, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, the neurobiology of trauma, and providing trauma informed care.

Jacqueline led Butte County in implementing one of the first pilot projects in the nation to provide Rapid DNA Service (RADS) to all victims of sexual assault receiving a forensic medical exam. Due to this program, Butte County does not have a rape kit backlog. 

In 2020, Jacqueline developed and implemented the Nonfatal Strangulation Protocol for Enloe Medical Center and Butte County SART partners. She trained physicians and staff throughout the hospital system and community SART partners on the medical consequences of non-fatal strangulation.

Jacqueline has been an instructor with the California Clinical Forensic Medical Training Center, instructing physicians, mid-level medical practitioners and registered nurses on the California Medical Protocol for Examination of Sexual Assault and Child Sexual Abuse Victims.

Jacqueline is the recipient of the 2021 Advocate of the Year award from Catalyst Domestic Violence Services. She also received the 2019 Outstanding Victim Advocate award by the Butte County District Attorney Victim Assistance Bureau.
Jacqueline is a longstanding member of the International Association of Forensic Nurses, and a member of California Sexual Assault Investigators Association. She is a proud graduate of CSU Chico with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing and certification in public health nursing. She has 10 years’ experience in critical care nursing.

Kari Cordero

Treasurer

Kari Cordero is the Executive Director of SANE-SART, a nonprofit agency that provides forensic and mental health services to victims of violence, including sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking and murder to all ages in Napa, Solano and Marin Counties. Originally SANE-SART started as a team of nurses that provided sexual assault examinations in 1988 and has blossomed into an agency that assists all victims of violence.

Kari is a California-transplant, originally from Chicago, IL. Out of high school, Kari enlisted in the Air Force and traveled all over the world working as an intelligence analyst. She received an Air Force scholarship to pursue a professional goal to be a registered nurse where she attended the University of IL – Chicago and graduated in 2002. After graduation, she was stationed at Travis Air Force Base, where she worked as a psychiatric nurse on an inpatient psychiatric unit serving military and veteran patients.

Kari received her master’s degree in Nursing from the University of CA- San Francisco in 2014 and practices as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Kari has also been a sexual assault nurse examiner for 17 years. As a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Kari is passionate about meeting the acute physical and emotional needs of victims to minimize longstanding psychological trauma.

Jessica Marques

Membership Director

Jessica Thayer Dodge

Board Member

Jessica Thayer Dodge is a Board Certified Physician Assistant. She is trained as both an Adult and Pediatric Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE). She is the Clinical Forensic Manager of the Rape Treatment Center at the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Elizabeth Tighe

Board Member Alternate

Tish (Elizabeth) Tighe is currently a nurse manager for the Rape Treatment Center (RTC), UCLA Health System - Santa Monica. She is a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She received her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Washington, Seattle and her Post Master Nurse Practitioner from UCLA. Tish has over 20 years of experience working as a sexual assault nurse examiner and nurse manager at the RTC. In addition to providing direct patient care, Tish provides sexual assault related trainings for local district attorneys, law enforcement agencies, universities, and hospitals.

Joy Hardt

Communications Director

Joy Hardt, MA, BSN, RN, SANE-A, is a Forensic Healthcare Coordinator and a forensic nurse examiner in San Diego County. Joy graduted with her bachelor's degree in nursing in 2007 was honorably discharged from the United Stated Navy Nurse Corps in 2014. The bulk of her nursing experience has been in women's health, though she has also worked in pediatric and adult mental health units and served during a deployment as one of four nurses providing care to US Service Members and other foreign nationals in an Emergency Medical Facility in Djibouti.

Destine Teves Borrego

Legislative Director

Destine is the current Legislative Director for CALSAFE and an active SANE with Forensic Nurse Specialists, Inc. She has a strong commitment to working in service of underserved communities. She works for Forensic Nurse Specialist as an examiner and as the HIV PEP Coordinator. She took on this role because she saw a need to improve access to HIV preventative medications for sexual assault victims. 

Prior to becoming a nurse, she worked in the Health Education Department at Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties for over five years. She has a wealth of experience as a program manager and coordinator for several programs funded by the California Department of Healthcare Services Office of Family Planning. 

Destine is driven to create meaningful social and policy change to improve health inequities and access to quality healthcare. She is committed to working in service of survivors and being an advocate for underserved populations. She began her advocacy work over 20 years ago as a Youth Lobbyist with the League of Women Voters, and has years of experience in advocacy and community engagement. She advocated for numerous bills including the California Women's Contraceptive Act which passed in 1999, and most recently SB 159 which allowed advanced practice pharmacists in California to furnish HIV PrEP and PEP without a prescription.

Destine is nationally certified as a SANE-A and SANE-P. 

William M. Green

Technical Advisor

William M. Green, MD, has been on the faculty of the University of California, Davis Medical School since 1976; he retired as Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine in July 2011. He has been board certified in both Family Practice and Emergency Medicine. Dr. Green’s work in the field of sexual assault has included participation in the creation of sexual assault forensic examination protocols for both California and the United States. In 1989, Dr. Green was one of the founders of the Sexual Assault Forensic Evaluation (SAFE) Team at the University of California, Davis Medical Center and served as the team’s Medical Director from 1989 until 2010. His publications include, Rape: The Evidential Examination and Management of the Adult Female Victim, published by Lexington Books(1988). In the mid 1990’s, Dr. Green worked with the core advisory group that helped draft the legislation that ultimately created the California Clinical Forensic Medical Training Center (CCFMTC) where he served as Medical Director until 2021. Dr. Green was one of the founding faculty members of the Graduate Group in Forensic Sciences that created the Forensic Science Master’s Program at UC Davis. In 2007, Dr. Green founded and co-chaired the Forensic Medicine Section in the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). His research interests include the epidemiology and forensics of sexual assault and the evaluation and management of strangulation. Most recently, Dr. Green was asked to serve as an advisor to the U.S. Department of Justice and the White House on sexual assault matters.

Dr. Green’s experience with strangulation victims includes over 35 years of work in emergency departments evaluating and managing all types of compressive neck injuries as well as caring for sexual assault victims who were strangled as part of the crime. In 2010 Dr. Green became one of the founding members of the National Medical Advisory Committee for the Training Institute for Strangulation Prevention and is currently co-chair. This national organization addresses policy issues, a develops and delivers training regarding strangulation for both medical and criminal justice professionals throughout the country.

Marilyn Peterson

Technical Advisor

Marilyn Strachan Peterson, MSW, MPA

Marilyn Strachan Peterson has a 40-year history improving services, initiating lasting strategies, and building infrastructure in California for survivors of interpersonal violence. She conceptualized the need for the California Clinical Forensic Medical Training Center (CCFMTC) and worked with colleagues to establish it in state law with continuous funding since 1996. Together with colleagues, the CCFMTC has grown to have a statewide, national and international reputation. She served as CCFMTC director from 1986 to 2019. Marilyn promoted the need for Cal SAFE to ensure that examiners were included at the state level policy-making table, to develop state-of-the-art educational materials meeting the needs of examiners, and to have a forum for professional networking and support.

Marilyn has had the practical experience of establishing and developing a rape crisis center from 1976 to 1980 when no operational manuals existed and added a battered women’s counseling and shelter program; forming the California Coalition of Rape Crisis Centers now named CALCASA, a formidable advocacy organization; working as the first Sexual Assault Victim Services Branch Chief at the Governor’s Office of Criminal Justice Planning funding rape crisis centers and child sexual abuse programs from 1980-1987; hired as the first Director of the UCDMC CAARE Center from 1988 to 2010 which provided medical/evidentiary exams, foster care health services, mental health treatment for abused and neglected children, and statewide training. She has a dedicated history of facilitating professional working groups to establish and gain consensus to establish the standardized rape kit in California and all of the California forensic medical examination forms. Last, she has suggested legislation to improve response and treatment of survivors such as the sexual battery law, defining consent in the penal code regarding sexual assault, expanding from 3 to 10 years the statute of limitations for sexual assault survivors filing civil suits, and establishing a standardized rape kit for California crime laboratories and examiners. Sometimes, she got into a lot of “good trouble” along the way. Marilyn earned her two master's degrees from California State University, Sacramento.