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State of California Department of Justice
Rob Bonta
Attorney General
Attorney General
The Untested Sexual Assault Evidence Grant – Backlog Reduction Program administered by the California Department of Justice (DOJ) provides funding to city and county agencies in California to assist in processing untested sexual assault evidence. A total of $1.814 million in new grant funding is available statewide.
Interested agencies are encouraged to learn more about the grant program, the eligibility criteria, and the Request for Application (RFA) process. The grant application period closes June 15, 2021.
The Budget Act of 2018 (SB 862) appropriated funding to the DOJ to provide assistance with eliminating existing statewide sexual assault evidence backlogs by providing grants for local law enforcement agencies, medical facilities and crime laboratories to process (i.e., submit and test) untested sexual assault evidence.
Any city or county agency within California is eligible to apply for grant funds to facilitate the processing of untested sexual assault evidence. Eligible agencies may include city and county medical facilities and law enforcement agencies that submit sexual assault evidence to a testing laboratory, as well as city and county crime laboratories that perform DNA testing.
Priority will be given to applications that propose to eliminate an existing backlog of untested sexual assault evidence. All applicants that are deemed eligible will receive grant funding for costs incurred to facilitate the processing of untested sexual assault evidence.
The DOJ will award grant funds to eligible local law enforcement agencies, medical facilities and crime laboratories that apply for funds through an RFA.
Applicants are limited to one application per disbursement cycle.
Eligible agencies must submit a complete application to the DOJ by June 15, 2021 at 5:00 PM. No late applications will be accepted. Applications should be emailed to usaeg-br@doj.ca.gov. The complete application package shall not exceed four pages in length and shall include the following:
An incomplete grant application will be disqualified and not reviewed by the Merits Review Committee.
A total of $1.814 million in grant funding is available. Grant funds are not designed to sustain a project, but are rather intended to supplement existing funds in order to help agencies with the processing of untested sexual assault evidence. Funds may only be used to facilitate the processing (i.e., submission and testing) of untested sexual assault evidence.
All grantees shall provide a dollar-for-dollar match to any grant funds awarded. A Grantee’s cash match is the direct project expense the Grantee will provide as its contribution to the Grant project. A Grantee’s cash match may include Personal Services, Equipment, and Operating Expenses.
Agencies who are interested in applying for funds should request an amount based on their need. In the event that requests exceed available funds, all approved requests will be evaluated and reduced uniformly.
The grant period begins July 1, 2021 and ends June 30, 2023.
Questions concerning the application process may be directed to the DOJ at usaeg-br@doj.ca.gov.