United States: 2021 National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative

Deadline: 22-Jun-21

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is seeking applications for funding to address the issue and impact of unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs) at law enforcement agencies.

Funding under this solicitation is intended to help law enforcement and prosecutors address all of the challenges associated with unsubmitted SAKs in order to reduce the number of unsubmitted SAKs in their jurisdictions. This will give them the evidence and tools to solve and reduce violent crimes associated with sexual assault, while achieving the long-term goal of improving the criminal justice response to sexual assault.

Areas

Purpose Area 1 – Comprehensive Approach to Unsubmitted Sexual Assault Kits. Competition ID: O-BJA-2021-00084 Applicants must propose to implement a comprehensive approach to unsubmitted SAKs that includes all three elements of the BJA model. Funds may be requested to support other activities, as determined by the needs of the applicant’s jurisdiction. However, regardless of the proposed use of funds, applicants must describe how their project will include all three of the BJA model’s elements in their program plan.
Purpose Area 2 – SAKI for Small Agencies (including rural and tribal agencies). Competition ID: O-BJA-2021-00085 Under Purpose Area 2, applicants are expected to achieve the overall goals of SAKI but do not require extensive funding to support the three elements of the BJA model. Applicants seeking funding under Purpose Area 2 must demonstrate efforts to form or maintain a multidisciplinary approach to address SAK-related issues in their jurisdiction, establish partnerships where possible, ensure that the SAKI activities are effectively coordinated, and discuss how funding will help provide a sustainable solution to problems associated with unsubmitted SAKs in the jurisdiction. Priority will be given to rural and tribal law enforcement agencies (especially those who are not currently receiving assistance under an existing statewide or countywide SAKI grant held by another agency).
Purpose Area 3 – Expansion of DNA Databases to Assist with Sexual Assault Investigations and Prosecutions: Collection of Lawfully Owed DNA from Convicted Offenders and Arrestee DNA Collections. Competition ID: O-BJA-2021-00086 In accordance with applicable state law and for the purpose of resolving sexual assault cases associated with previously unsubmitted SAKs, Purpose Area 3 addresses the identification, collection, and DNA profiling of samples from convicted offenders who should have samples in CODIS, but from whom samples have never been collected or submitted to a lab for testing.
Purpose Area 4 – Investigation and Prosecution of Cold Case Sexual Assaults. Competition ID: O-BJA-2021-00087 Applications are solicited to support the investigation and prosecution of high volumes of sexual assault cases that have resulted from testing backlogs of previously unsubmitted SAKs. This funding is intended as enhancement funds for applicants that can clearly demonstrate their jurisdictions have previously addressed, or are currently effectively addressing, the major issues associated with unsubmitted SAKs. Applicants do not have to be existing SAKI award recipients.

Funding Information

Anticipated Total Amount to be Awarded Under Solicitation: $44,000,000.00
Purpose Area 1: $2,500,000.00
Purpose Area 2: $500,000.00
Purpose Area 3: $1,000,000.00
Purpose Area 4: $1,000,000.00
Period of Performance Start Date: 10/1/21 12:00 AM
Period of Performance Duration (Months): 36

Eligibility Criteria

The following entities are eligible to apply for Purpose Areas 1, 3, and 4:
- State law enforcement agencies
- Units of local government
- Federally recognized Indian tribal governments
- Governmental non-law enforcement agencies acting as their fiscal agents
- Prosecutor’s offices
The following entities are eligible to apply for Purpose Area 2:
- Small law enforcement agencies or consortia of small law enforcement agencies
Metropolitan statistical areas and divisions may be considered. However, priority will be given to rural and tribal law enforcement agencies (especially those who are not currently receiving assistance under an existing statewide or countywide SAKI grant held by another agency).
An applicant that previously received an award under the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative is eligible to apply for funding under all purpose areas in this solicitation; however, the applicant must:
- Clearly justify the need for additional funding support and detail how additional funding will enhance or expand its ability to address issues associated with unsubmitted SAKs in its jurisdiction.
- Summarize progress and deliverables achieved under its current SAKI grant to date.
- Include in its application the plan and budget to complete an expanded inventory to include partially tested SAKs, if this has not already been done.
To advance Executive Order Safe Policing for Safe Communities, the Attorney General determined that all state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body or have started the certification process to be allocated FY 2021 DOJ discretionary grant funding, as either a recipient or a subrecipient.
All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.