A request by Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, to use $4 million of California’s budget to test backlogged rape kits was approved Wednesday.
Lackey made the request to help reduce the backlog of nearly 14,000 rape kits that have yet to be tested by California law enforcement officials.
“I am overjoyed that this dedication of resources will assist victims of violent crime in their trauma recovery process for years to come,” Lackey said. “The backlog is often discussed as an aggregate — but each kit represents an individual working to heal physically, emotionally and psychologically. The very least we can do is affirm their pain by testing the DNA evidence provided.”
The $4 million allocation is set to be distributed to crime laboratories and law enforcement agencies with kit backlogs, according to Lackey’s office.
The money is slated to be available until fully used, with no expiration date on the funds, representatives said.
Lackey had also submitted a legislative proposal to end the backlog by 2024, according to Lackey’s office.
See Related: Lackey Bill To End Rape-Kit Backlog Passes Public Safety Committee
Individual kits cost between $600 and $1,000 to test, according to Lackey’s office.
The $4 million dollar allocation could result in the testing of at least 4,000 of the nearly 14,000 backlogged kits, representatives said.
These funds are provided in addition to a current grant program that provides $2 million for testing kits, according to representatives.
Lackey’s request was supported by the National Association of Social Workers, California, Crime Victims United, Joyful Heart Foundation, Natasha’s Justice Project, University Survivors Movement, Leda Health, California Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners Association and Academy of Forensic Nursing, according to the lawmaker’s office.
The groups represent survivors of sexual assault and care providers, and have first-hand knowledge of the importance of testing kits, representatives said.
“These hours-long exams can be traumatizing,” Lackey said. “It would be further destabilizing to know that thereafter no serious action was taken to limit this happening to another person.”
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