Federal Response

The federal government has a key role to play in investing in justice for survivors, accountability for perpetrators, and safety for America’s communities. Since 2010, the Joyful Heart Foundation has made the elimination of the rape kit backlog our top federal advocacy priority.

Rape Kit Initiative

For the first time, in 2014, President Obama’s budget proposal included dedicated funding for a grant program (the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, or SAKI) to provide much-needed support for communities as they work to end their backlogs and secure justice for survivors. SAKI provides vital resources jurisdictions need to develop comprehensive multidisciplinary teams to inventory their unsubmitted kits, test untested/unsubmitted kits, establish rape kit tracking systems (via the SAFER Act), investigate and prosecute cases, and address the need for survivor notification and re-engagement with the criminal justice system. Now more than 70 communities have been awarded this funding.

After years of collaboration, in September 2015, Joyful Heart Founder & President Mariska Hargitay stood beside then-Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. as they awarded grants from the Department of Justice and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to 48 law enforcement agencies in 27 states to address their backlogs of untested rape kits. Joyful Heart’s announcement, Mariska’s remarks, and the list of grant recipients are available here.

The Joyful Heart Foundation is proud to be part of a team that was selected by the Bureau of Justice Assistance to provide training and technical assistance to SAKI grantees as they work to end their backlog of untested kits, investigate the resulting cases, prosecute the offenders, and re-engage survivors in the justice process.

Survivors’ Bill of Rights

In 2106, the Survivors’ Bill of Rights (Pub.L. 114–236) became law, providing victims’ rights in federal sexual assault cases. Through the law, survivors of sexual assault are given the right to have a rape kit preserved for the length of the case’s statute of limitations, to be notified of an evidence kit’s destruction, and to be informed about the results of forensic testing. The law also keeps survivors from being prevented from obtaining a medical forensic exam or being charged for one. 

The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)

VOCA is a federal grant program providing direct assistance to primary and secondary victims for the tangible costs resulting from the crime, including therapy, medical bills, lost wages, and forensic exams. The program also funds direct assistance services to victims and survivors of all types of crimes.

Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Reduction Grants

In 2004, Congress passed the Debbie Smith Act, which provides grants to eligible states and local governments for several purposes, including training and education programs for testing backlogged DNA evidence, including rape kits; training and education programs for law enforcement, correctional personnel, and court officers; training and education programs for sexual assault forensic examiners; and to increase the capacity of state and local crime labs to conduct DNA testing. The act also provides funding for jurisdictions that outsource DNA evidence to private crime labs for testing. This funding is administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance through its Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction (CEBR) Program. Eligible states and local governments may request funds from the BJA to increase the capacity of their existing crime labs to analyze DNA samples more efficiently. Eligible applicants may also request funds to handle, screen, and analyze backlogged DNA evidence.