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Over the past decade, the 91Ӱ�� government has awarded nearly $350 million in grants to help local and state agencies across the country test long-neglected evidence from sexual assaults and bring closure to victims. Leaders promised that the program, known as the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, would make communities safer by locking up rapists and provide answers to victims who have spent years or decades in the dark. 

In most cases, neither has happened.  

Greenville, North Carolina has reported no convictions despite having a backlog of about 500 kits and being awarded almost $220,000. In Austin, officials counted a backlog of more than 4,400 kits and were approved for $3 million in federal funding as well as a different grant. To date, they have secured a single conviction. Alaska counted 700 backlogged kits held by state police and were awarded grants totaling about $1.5 million. By last year, officials had reported just one conviction.

Some places contacted survivors when their kit was tested, others didn't

The number of convictions is only one measure of success. But another promise of the program – providing closure for victims – has also fallen short. Most victims whose kits have been tested do not know.  

Officials have grappled with when and how to contact victims. Does it cause new harm for survivors if they are contacted only to learn police won’t pursue their case? Or is it better for them to know, and could an apology for the delay in testing help close a wound? 

Federal officials do not require a particular approach. 91Ӱ�� requested victim notification protocols from every grant site and reviewed 42 policies. Only eight of those agencies chose to contact all or nearly all victims. More commonly, sites limited who would be notified, such as only people whose kits resulted in a DNA match. Six sites narrowed the pool even further, contacting victims only if officials thought they could reopen the investigation.  

91Ӱ�� examined victim notification rates for 14 agencies with early grants and the most complete numbers, comparing the number of victims contacted to kits sent for testing. The ratio does not take into account that some victims may have had more than one kit in the backlog.

Albuquerque, New Mexico reports notifying two people for every three kits tested.

The county anchored by Detroit, Michigan reported a notification rate of about 9%.     

In Wisconsin, officials say they have contacted just 105 people out of the 4,475 kits sent for testing, about 2%.    

Though it is rare, some agencies used their policies as an opportunity to take the stance that survivors deserve to know what happened to their sexual assault kits.

The policy in Duluth, Minn. includes a firm declaration: “Everyone deserves notification unless it will do harm.” 

Sources: 91Ӱ�� analysis and reporting, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grantees.

Read more: America tested 100,000 forgotten rape kits. But justice remains elusive.