The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) offers the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) grant to support multidisciplinary community response teams in the reform of approaches to sexual assault cases from unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs). The grant focuses on enhancing jurisdictional capacity to prevent and address unsubmitted SAKs, improve investigation and prosecution practices, and provide victim-centered support. It aims to create a coordinated community response and build long-term strategies to tackle the issue. By funding one national Training and Technical Assistance provider, the grant seeks to offer support and capacity building to jurisdictions facing similar challenges in addressing unsubmitted SAKs nationwide. Applications for local SAKI projects are not accepted.
Opportunity ID: 275013
General Information
| Document Type: | Grants Notice |
| Funding Opportunity Number: | BJA-2015-4116 |
| Funding Opportunity Title: | BJA FY 15 The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative: National Training and Technical Assistance |
| Opportunity Category: | Discretionary |
| Opportunity Category Explanation: | – |
| Funding Instrument Type: | Grant |
| Category of Funding Activity: | Law, Justice and Legal Services |
| Category Explanation: | – |
| Expected Number of Awards: | 2 |
| Assistance Listings: | 16.833 — National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative |
| Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: | No |
| Version: | Synopsis 1 |
| Posted Date: | Mar 09, 2015 |
| Last Updated Date: | – |
| Original Closing Date for Applications: | May 07, 2015 |
| Current Closing Date for Applications: | May 07, 2015 |
| Archive Date: | Jun 06, 2015 |
| Estimated Total Program Funding: | – |
| Award Ceiling: | $6,000,000 |
| Award Floor: | $0 |
Eligibility
| Eligible Applicants: | Private institutions of higher education For profit organizations other than small businesses Public and State controlled institutions of higher education Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education Others (see text field entitled “Additional Information on Eligibility” for clarification) |
| Additional Information on Eligibility: | Eligible applicants are for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations (including tribal nonprofit or for-profit organizations), faith-based and community organizations, institutions of higher education (including tribal institutions of higher education), and consortiums with demonstrated experience providing national and local-level training and technical assistance. For-profit organizations must agree to waive any profit or fees for services. BJA welcomes applications that involve two or more entities; however, one eligible entity must be the applicant and the others must be proposed as subrecipients. The applicant must be the entity with primary responsibility for administering the funding and managing the entire program. Only one application per lead applicant will be considered; however, subrecipients may be part of multiple proposals |
Additional Information
| Agency Name: | Bureau of Justice Assistance |
| Description: | The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), administered by BJA, provides funding through a competitive grant program to support multidisciplinary community response teams engaged in the comprehensive reform of jurisdictions’ approaches to sexual assault cases resulting from evidence found in previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs). Unsubmitted kits (those in in police custody or other evidence storage locations that have never been submitted to a crime laboratory for testing) and untested kits (those that have been submitted to crime labs but are delayed for testing (e.g., as a result of a backlog of work in the laboratory) are separate and distinct issues. The focus of this effort is on those unsubmitted kits that have never been submitted to a crime laboratory. The goal of SAKI is the creation of a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to these cases whenever possible through a comprehensive and victim-centered approach, as well as to build jurisdictions’ capacity to prevent high numbers of unsubmitted SAKs in the future. This program provides jurisdictions with resources to address their unsubmitted SAK issue, including support to inventory, test, and track SAKs; create and report performance metrics; access necessary training to increase effectiveness in addressing the complex issues associated with these cases and engage in multidisciplinary policy development, implementation and coordination; and improve practices related to investigation, prosecution, and victim engagement, advocacy, and support in connection with evidence and cases resulting from the testing process. Research supported by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) on unsubmitted SAKs at pilot sites in Detroit, Michigan and Houston, Texas has confirmed the value of testing unsubmitted sexual assault kits in solving sexual assault cases. It has also highlighted the complexity of the issue. Unsubmitted SAKs in the custody of law enforcement agencies can be attributed to a wide range of factors, including poor evidence tracking, outdated and ineffective investigation practices, misunderstanding of crime lab case acceptance policies, and lack of understanding among law enforcement about the value of testing kits in various types of cases. This recent research identified the need for more trained investigative and prosecutorial resources to deal with the increased number of investigations and prosecutions resulting from testing a high number of previously unsubmitted SAKs, as well as the importance of linking victims to needed services. Thus, the critical needs around this issue extend well beyond testing kits and increasing crime lab capacity; this program also addresses the investigative and prosecutorial aspects of sexual assault cases resulting from the testing and enhancing provision of victim services. There is currently no reliable estimate for the number of unsubmitted kits in the custody of law enforcement agencies nationwide. As noted in a 2011 NIJ Special Report, the problem in assessing the scope is complicated by the fact that some police departments may have deficient evidence tracking, storage, and retention policies, protocols, and facilities. Furthermore, unsubmitted SAKs may be located in places other than police evidence rooms, including hospitals, clinics, rape crisis centers, and unofficial evidence retention locations. In addition, many law enforcement agencies lack electronic systems to track evidence and encounter data sharing obstacles to exchanging information about DNA “hits” among police, prosecutors, and crime labs in a seamless and real-time basis. It is important to not only support grant sites directly to meet these challenges while reducing the number of unsubmitted SAKs, but also to provide training and technical assistance (TTA) to jurisdictions grappling with this issue to achieve the long term goals of improving our national response to sexual assault. This competitive grant announcement specifically requests applications for one national TTA provider to support and build capacity in the field and among those jurisdictions selected to receive SAKI funding and other jurisdictions facing similar conditions. This grant announcement does not solicit applications from individual jurisdictions to fund local SAKI projects. |
| Link to Additional Information: | Full Announcement |
| Grantor Contact Information: | If you have difficulty accessing the full announcement electronically, please contact:
For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726 or 606-545-5035, or via e-mail to support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Support Hotline hours of operation are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except federal holidays.
Email:support@grants.gov |
Version History
| Version | Modification Description | Updated Date |
|---|---|---|
Related Documents
Folder 275013 Full Announcement-1 -> 15saki-ttasol.pdf
Packages
| Agency Contact Information: | For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800-518-4726 or 606-545-5035, or via e-mail to support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Support Hotline hours of operation are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except federal holidays. Email: support@grants.gov |
| Who Can Apply: | Organization Applicants |
| Assistance Listing Number | Competition ID | Competition Title | Opportunity Package ID | Opening Date | Closing Date | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16.833 | PKG00215390 | Mar 09, 2015 | May 07, 2015 | View |
Package 1
Mandatory forms
275013 SF424_2_1-2.1.pdf
275013 SF424B-1.1.pdf
275013 Budget-1.1.pdf
275013 Other-1.1.pdf
275013 Project-1.1.pdf
Optional forms
275013 FaithBased_SurveyOnEEO-1.2.pdf
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