The Office of the Attorney General, Office of Victims Advocacy is seeking applicants for the positions of KY Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Site Coordinator and KY Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Victim Advocate pursuant to a 3 year federal grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, US Department of Justice. Interested applicants should send contact Gretchen Hunt at Gretchen.hunt@ky.gov for more information.
Information about the grant:
Kentucky Sexual Assault Kit Initiative
The Office of the Attorney General, in partnership with the Kentucky State Police and the University of Louisville will implement the Kentucky Sexual Assault Initiative to address the sexual assault kit backlog and bring about justice for survivors. With a comprehensive state law that mandates submission of all kits, training for law enforcement on victim centered, trauma informed investigations of sexual assault, victim notification and model law enforcement policy in place, Kentucky is well positioned to enhance its multidisciplinary response and improve investigations and prosecutions statewide.
The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative will enable the Kentucky State Police to conduct a comprehensive inventory of all remaining untested and partially tested sexual assault kits and ensure that these kits are all tested, and all relevant information is uploaded into CODIS, the national DNA database.
SAKI funding will enable creation of the first Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Cold Case Team statewide, located in the Office of the Attorney General and comprised of a prosecutor, investigator and victim advocate focused entirely on sexual assault cold cases. It will also fund an additional KSP Cold Case Investigator to work in partnership with the SAKI Cold Case Unit.
Efforts to develop and revise policies on sexual assault cold cases, provide training and technical assistance and measure gaps in the collection, submission and testing of sexual assault kits, investigations and prosecutions will be overseen by a multidisciplinary team, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force, co-chaired by the Office of the Attorney General and the Kentucky State Police. A Sexual Assault Kit Site Coordinator will provide support to the Task Force and assist in coordinating efforts to address the backlog statewide.
The SAKI Task Force will provide enhanced training and materials to prosecutors, law enforcement and victim advocates, including a five day training conference, a guide for prosecutors on prosecuting cold cases and a video series that can be used for roll call and other training.
The OAG will partner with researchers at the University of Louisville to conduct comprehensive statewide research, some of the first of its kind, on untested sexual assault kits, the efficacy of training efforts, and what decisions, training and resources will improve investigations and prosecutions in sexual assault cases.
