This technical assistance report provides requirements and suggested steps for grantees under the Bureau of Justice Assistance's (BJA's) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) in complying with the requirement that they complete an inventory of all SAKs that had not been submitted to labs for testing prior to the date their SAKI grant was awarded.
The intent of these instructions is that the methods used in obtaining a count of all unsubmitted SAKs produce a full accounting of the number of all such SAKs on the date of the grant's initiation. The instructions first state that an SAK inventory that relies only on a survey of law enforcement agencies regarding their estimates of untested SAKs is unacceptable. The following four requirements for the SAK inventory counts our outlined: 1) the count should include the total number of SAKs and locations where they are currently stored; 2) there should be verification that all SAKs have been counted, not just particular categories of SAKs; 3) there should be a written summary of the process used to conduct the inventory count; and 4) specific types of information (e.g., victim name and offense data) associated with each SAK should be included. Six BJA solicitation inventory requirements are outlined. They include the definition of an "unsubmitted SAK," the time period covered by the inventory requirement, specific information required for unsubmitted SAKs, completion of the SAKI Site SAK Inventory Certification Form, the time allowed for completion of the inventory (6 months after the date of the grant award), and how to handle data on partially tested SAKs. Each of six recommended steps for conducting the required SAK inventory are explained.