Vice President Biden and Attorney General Lynch Announce the $41 Million Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Grantees!
On Thursday, September 10, Vice President Biden and Attorney General Lynch announced the grantees who will receive funds for the fiscal year 2015 Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). This initiative will allocate $41 million to support 20 law enforcement organizations to test thousands of previously unsubmitted SAKs and improve organizations’ responses to sexual assault crimes. Additionally, the SAKI funding will go towards the launch of a national training and technical assistance (TTA) program.
The goals of SAKI are to create a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to cases, whenever possible, through a victim-centered approach, as well as to build jurisdictions’ capacity to prevent the development of conditions that could lead to high numbers of unsubmitted kits.
BJA has also formed a partnership with the New York County District Attorney's Office (DANY) to leverage mutual resources, and to expand the number of sites receiving TTA and resources to address untested SAKs. Together, BJA and DANY will coordinate and provide over $79 million dollars to 43 jurisdictions in 27 states. This partnership is projected to result in the testing of approximately 70,000 previously untested SAKs.