BJA FY25 National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) | O BJA 2025 172462

Opportunity Information: Apply for O BJA 2025 172462

The BJA FY25 National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) is a discretionary grant program from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, designed to help jurisdictions address the public safety and victim justice challenges created by backlogs of sexual assault kits (SAKs) that were never submitted for testing or were only partially tested. The central purpose is to reduce sexual assault and related violent crime, strengthen accountability for violent offenders, and improve outcomes for victims by ensuring that evidence is tested and that the cases connected to that evidence are thoroughly worked from start to finish. In practical terms, the initiative supports a more coordinated, jurisdiction-wide response to sexually motivated crimes, recognizing that testing kits is only one part of a much larger process that includes investigations, victim engagement, forensic and intelligence work, and prosecutions.

This opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number O-BJA-2025-172462; CFDA 16.833) falls under the Law, Justice and Legal Services funding activity category and uses a grant funding instrument. Awards can be as large as $2,500,000 per award (award ceiling). The application deadline listed is October 27, 2025, and the opportunity was created on September 17, 2025. While the notice describes expected awards, the number of awards is not specified in the provided source information.

A key emphasis of SAKI is improving the full case pipeline tied to sexual assault kit evidence. Beyond submitting and testing kits, the program focuses on the downstream work that must follow: crime analysis, investigations, victim notification and support, following up on CODIS hits (DNA database matches), and carrying cases through to prosecution when appropriate. The program description highlights that resources are intended to help criminal justice agencies build or strengthen this end-to-end response so that tested evidence leads to actionable investigative steps and meaningful opportunities for justice and public safety impact.

Eligibility depends on the funding category. For Categories 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, eligible applicants include state law enforcement agencies, units of local government, governmental non-law-enforcement agencies serving as fiscal agents, and prosecutors offices. Category 2 is specifically reserved for small law enforcement agencies or consortia of small law enforcement agencies; for this solicitation, "small" means an agency with fewer than 250 sworn officers. The solicitation also includes additional eligibility conditions for certain categories that are aimed at jurisdictions that have already made substantial progress. For Categories 3, 4, and 6, applicants must be jurisdictions that have addressed their unsubmitted and partially tested kits and can clearly demonstrate they have also completed downstream case activities for at least 75 percent of the associated cases under their control and/or authority. Category 5 is similarly targeted, but specifically for existing or previous SAKI grantees; to qualify, those grantees must have addressed their unsubmitted and partially tested kits and must clearly show they have completed downstream SAKI case activities (crime analysis, investigation, victim notification, CODIS hit follow-up, and prosecutions) for at least 75 percent of relevant cases within their jurisdictional control and/or authority.

Overall, the FY25 SAKI opportunity is structured to support both jurisdictions still working through kit backlogs and jurisdictions that have already tackled the inventory of unsubmitted or partially tested kits and are now positioned to focus heavily on completing investigations and prosecutions tied to that evidence. The categories and eligibility rules reflect a push for measurable progress, not just in lab testing, but in the real-world case outcomes and victim-centered actions that follow.

• The Bureau of Justice Assistance in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY25 National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.833.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-09-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Others.

Apply for O BJA 2025 172462

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