California Attorney General Xavier Becerra recently announced a
new application window for a grant program that provides funds to
cities and counties to help conduct audits of their untested
victim sexual assault evidence kits. Untested Sexual Assault
Evidence Grants are intended to assist in determining the number
of untested victim sexual assault evidence kits throughout
California.
Last year, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 3118 by Assembly Member
David Chiu , requiring every law enforcement agency, medical
facility, crime laboratory, and other specified facilities, to
conduct an audit of all untested victim sexual assault evidence
kits in their possession and report to the California Department
of Justice (DOJ) no later than July 1, 2019. Earlier in 2018, DOJ
was allocated $1 million through the state budget for grants
available to cities and counties to count the number of untested
sexual assault victim evidence kits in their possession. Nearly
$800,000 remains available.
Local government agencies must submit applications to
the DOJ by March 29, 2019. Additional information
on application requirements and eligibility criteria is
available at: https://oag.ca.gov/usaeg.
