Fourth Annual DNA Grantees' Workshop

Tuesday, June 24, 2003

AFTERNOON SESSION

NIJ Update: DNA Backlog Reduction Programs
Janelle A. Buchanan
Biography

MS. BUCHANAN: I will go through this quickly because, unlike the convicted offender program, I really have no changes on the no-suspect program side. Plus, it's always safe to save the best for last. Buchanan: Slide 1

I'm going to give you a status of where we are with the 2001, 2002, and 2003 no-suspect program. Buchanan: Slide 2

We started with $15.3 million and added $20 million more, totaling up to $35.3 million for 2001, some of which carried over to 2002. The solicitation closed November 28, 2001. We received 27 applications and awarded 25. Buchanan: Slides 3 and 4

Of the 24,000 cases that would be analyzed by the end of December, 742 were analyzed, 299 were entered into CODIS, and 47 of those resulted in hits. Thus, nearly 16 percent of the cases analyzed resulted in hits. Buchanan: Slide 5

Progress reports for January through June are due July 30th. The solicitation for 2003 closed on September 13th last year [2002]. There was no State match, and the money could pay for consultants and overtime but not for full-time employees. We asked for $25 million, but we only got $20 million. We had $5 million remaining from our 2002 program, though, so added together, we had about $25.4 million. Also, all 50 States and several territories were eligible to apply. This includes all DNA-capable labs within a State. Buchanan: Slide 6

Thirty-nine States applied for approximately $55 million in requests. For 2 years we were promised 34,000-plus cases that would be analyzed, and to date, two States have been awarded, Louisiana and New Jersey. Additional States are pending. Buchanan: Slides 7 and 8