ENDTHEBACKLOG News: October 2015

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U.S. Department of Justice and Manhattan District
Attorney’s Office award nearly $80M in funding
to address untested rape kits 

Last month, Joyful Heart Foundation Founder & President Mariska Hargitay stood with Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. as they announced nearly $80 million in funding to help 47 jurisdictions across 27 states address their backlogs of untested rape kits. Joyful Heart is proud to be part of a team that was selected by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance to provide training and technical assistance to the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grantees.

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Program Update: The Accountability Project

Indianapolis is one of the cities where Joyful Heart is using public records requests to uncover the extent of the rape kit backlog. This month we verified that the Circle City has one of the largest numbers of untested rape kits in the country.

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Audit Spotlight: Kentucky

Kentucky’s statewide audit of untested rape kits revealed 3,090 untested kits. Last month, State Auditor Adam Edelen responded to the results and committed to ending the state’s rape kit backlog for good.

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