California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the launch of a new online portal to allow survivors of sexual assault to track the status of their sexual assault evidence kits and the hiring of the state’s first-ever sexual assault evidence outreach coordinator, Dr. Sarai Crain, who will work directly with law enforcement, medical facilities, and other partner organizations to support local efforts to track and process sexual assault evidence. Together, these new initiatives aim to clear the backlog of sexual assault evidence at the local level, ensure timely processing of sexual assault evidence, and increase transparency and access to information for survivors.
The new portal — launched as a result of the passage of Senate Bill 215 in 2021 — is an easy-to-use tool that enables survivors of sexual assault to privately, securely, and electronically track the status and location of their sexual assault evidence kit, following a forensic sexual assault medical exam. As a result of the new portal, survivors are now able to learn in real-time whether their sexual assault evidence kit has been received by a law enforcement agency, is in transit to a lab, has been received by a lab, is undergoing DNA analysis, or has had DNA analysis completed. The portal also provides information on resources available to survivors. Individuals are able to access their own kit information online by entering their kit number and the name of the investigating agency. In California, kit information is typically provided to survivors upon completion of a forensic sexual assault medical exam.
The California Department of Justice's (DOJ) Victims' Services Unit also provides telephone support to help individuals access information regarding their kits where needed. As a safeguard against potential misuse, the portal, among other protection measures, only allows access to status and location data and limits the number of times an individual can query the system each day. The information available on the portal draws from the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Tracking (SAFE-T) database maintained by DOJ. The data maintained in SAFE-T is limited and does not include fields for personally identifying information such as names, addresses, or dates of birth.
In 2015, DOJ created the SAFE-T database to track the statewide collection and processing of victim sexual assault evidence kits. Sexual assault evidence kits are primarily used for investigative purposes to develop a DNA profile of a potential suspect and are generally collected from survivors of sexual assault during a forensic sexual assault medical exam. Law enforcement agencies that investigate cases involving sexual assault — and public crime laboratories that analyze the evidence — are required to enter certain information into SAFE-T in order to help ensure sexual assault evidence is tracked and timely processed. DOJ issues an annual report providing a statistical summary of the data, which includes general information on the processing of the kit, the date a kit is submitted for DNA analysis, whether a kit generates a potentially probative DNA profile, and, if necessary, the reason why a kit is not tested within 120 days. Law enforcement agencies and crime laboratories have been mandated to report information on victim sexual assault evidence kits to SAFE-T since 2018. In 2021 alone, California’s public crime labs completed DNA analysis on more than 5,900 sexual assault evidence kits statewide. However, according to a 2020 statewide audit primarily focused on kits collected prior to 2018, there was a reported total of nearly 14,000 untested sexual assault evidence kits at the local level across California.
As part of the broader effort to assist law enforcement agencies, public crime laboratories, and medical facilities with addressing this challenge and ensuring sexual assault evidence is processed for DNA, DOJ's first-ever statewide-level sexual assault evidence outreach coordinator, Dr. Sarai Crain, will work to identify and remove barriers to testing, connect law enforcement agencies in need of testing assistance with public crime laboratories and private vendors, and promote awareness of public resources. The outreach coordinator position is part of DOJ’s overall strategy to increase support for survivors of sexual assault across California. Crain most recently served as the Deputy Chief for the City of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention. As Deputy Chief, she developed a citywide strategic plan for gender-based violence prevention and intervention programs. From 2016 to 2020, Crain served as the Executive Director of Bay Area Women Against Rape, the nation’s oldest rape crisis center where she became a California-certified Sexual Assault Counselor in 2003. Crain earned her Doctor of Ministry degree at San Francisco Theological Seminary where her research was focused on counseling and advocacy for survivors of sexual assault. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Masters of Theological Studies degree from Pacific School of Religion.
The portal is accessible online at https://kitstatus.doj.ca.gov. Individuals without a sexual assault evidence kit number should contact the relevant law enforcement agency and, if necessary, may find additional information through DOJ’s Victims’ Services Unit.