National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI)

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, is soliciting applications for the FY25 National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). This initiative is designed to reduce sexual assault and violent crime by addressing the nationwide challenge of unsubmitted and partially tested sexual assault kits (SAKs). It also aims to hold violent offenders accountable and to provide justice and support for victims. The program responds to systemic issues that have allowed backlogs of kits to accumulate, providing jurisdictions with resources to inventory, test, and follow up on these cases, while also ensuring sustainable changes in investigative and prosecutorial practices. The program has six categories of funding. Category 1 supports a comprehensive approach for larger jurisdictions dealing with significant backlogs, offering awards up to $2,500,000. Category 2 is designed for smaller law enforcement agencies with fewer than 250 sworn officers, providing up to $1,000,000. Category 3 addresses the collection of lawfully owed DNA from offenders and arrestees with awards up to $1,500,000. Category 4 funds the investigation and prosecution of cold case sexually motivated crimes, also capped at $1,500,000. Category 5 supports developing and implementing sustainability plans for existing or prior grantees, with up to $1,000,000 available. Finally, Category 6, the National Cold Case Initiative, funds efforts to resolve violent cold case crimes that are not sexually motivated, with awards up to $2,500,000. In total, $38,459,239 will be distributed under this program, with a performance period of 36 months starting October 1, 2025. Eligible applicants include state governments, county and city governments, special district governments, federally and non-federally recognized tribal governments, and other units of local government. Certain categories of funding are restricted to specific types of applicants. For example, Category 2 is limited to small law enforcement agencies or consortia of such agencies. Categories 3, 4, and 6 require applicants to certify that they have already addressed unsubmitted and partially tested SAKs and completed related downstream case activities for at least 75 percent of cases under their jurisdiction. Category 5 is limited to existing or previous SAKI grantees who can demonstrate similar progress. The application process involves two steps. Applicants must first submit the SF-424 form through Grants.gov no later than October 27, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Full applications must then be submitted through the JustGrants system by November 3, 2025, at 8:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Applicants are encouraged to begin registration in SAM.gov well in advance, ideally by September 26, 2025. A pre-application webinar will be announced through BJA’s events page. Applications must include a project narrative, budget, and supporting documents such as memoranda of understanding among multidisciplinary partners. Proposals will be evaluated on how well they meet program goals, including eliminating SAK and cold case backlogs, enhancing investigations and prosecutions of sexually motivated crimes, supporting victims through notification and services, and building sustainable policies. Deliverables include certified inventories of SAKs, testing plans, victim engagement protocols, advanced DNA technology plans, and entries into the FBI’s ViCAP database. Award recipients must collect and report detailed performance measures to demonstrate progress, including data on CODIS uploads, victim notifications, and investigative outcomes. For assistance, applicants may contact the OJP Response Center by phone at 800-851-3420 or 202-353-5556 (TTY available), or by email at OJP.ResponseCenter@usdoj.gov. Technical support is also available through SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and the JustGrants service desk. The agency’s goal is to ensure that applicants have the resources needed to apply successfully and to support jurisdictions in delivering justice and preventing the reaccumulation of untested SAKs in the future.