State pilots sexual assault kit online tracking program
The state Commission on Crime and Delinquency has unveiled the first phase of an upcoming statewide program to improve testing and tracking procedure for sexual assault evidence kits, which advocates say will improve transparency and accountability for survivors.
The new Track-Kit Program will be piloted in three counties throughout October before full implementation across the state by the end of 2026.
Signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro in 2024, the Pennsylvania Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), is designed to address longstanding concerns with the testing process for sexual assault evidence kits, which are commonly known as rape kits.
These kits are containers of physical evidence collected from sexual assault victims by trained medical professionals immediately after an incident that are used to identify the attacker and investigate the case.
Advocates have long criticized aspects of this process, saying that several jurisdictions take too long to test the kits, do not follow proper chain of custody procedures and leave survivors in the dark about the status of their kit.
Without a properly handled rape kit, prosecutors are often unable to charge alleged attackers due to a lack of admissible evidence.
According to Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (PAAR) Director of Victim Response Megan Schroeder, many victims report feeling frustrated that they are unable to pursue appropriate legal recourse for their attacker in a timely manner due to these issues.
“They say, ‘I thought everyone forgot about my kit and that no one believed me,'” she said.
Schroeder said that some jurisdictions have years-long backlogs of rape kits still awaiting testing, with some backlogs stretching back to the 1980s.
The SAKI initiative and the new Track-Kit program have helped cut down these backlogs in several places, including Allegheny County, by providing new funding and training for expanded kit testing efforts.
Under the Track-Kit Program, every newly collected rape kit will have an attached bar code connecting it to a cloud-based evidence file that can be accessed through a secure web portal. This tracker will automatically update every time the kit is moved to a new location and processed for evidence.
This will allow law enforcement, medical providers and victims to remotely check the testing status of each individual kit 24/7.
“A big piece of this is accountability,” Schroeder said, noting that before this system, victims often had no idea when their kit had been tested, or what law enforcement agency was responsible for its storage.
“Even if (testing the kit) won’t change the outcome, it does acknowledge a respect for the evidence for the survivor,” according to PAAR Managing Director Kelsey Leigh. “They know that their kit isn’t just sitting on a shelf somewhere.”
The program will provide new training for law enforcement, medical professionals and rape crisis center staff – like PAAR – on how to access the new tracking system.
Leigh said that Allegheny County will be included in the new system starting in November, with the rest of the state coming online before the end of the year.
According to Leigh, the new Track-Kit system will help give survivors “a sense of justice and closure.”
Leigh said every Pennsylvania resident is entitled to the services of rape crisis centers, and that these centers are available at no cost to help survivors navigate the legal process and healing journey.
A full registry of rape crisis centers is available online at pcar.org/help-pa/locations.