BJA is seeking applications for funding to address the issue and impact of unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs) at law enforcement agencies. This program supports the Department of Justice’s mission by improving: (1) state and local jurisdictions’ capacities to respond to violent crime and (2) the functioning of the criminal justice system through the investigation and prosecution of cases resulting from SAK evidence and the collection of lawfully owed DNA.
This program provides funding to support multidisciplinary community response teams to inventory, track, and expeditiously test previously unsubmitted SAKs; collect and test lawfully owed DNA from offenders/arrestees; produce necessary protocols and policies to improve collaboration among laboratories, police, prosecutors, and victim service providers; provide resources to address the sexual assault investigations and prosecutions that result from evidence and CODIS hits produced by tested SAKs; and optimize victim notification protocols and services.