ROANOKE (WSLS 10) - Attorney General Mark Herring and Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran announced in September, Virginia received a $1.4 million grant to conduct DNA testing.
A month later testing has not started.
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The contract with the grantor is still being finalized. Meanwhile, Attorney General Mark Herring and his team are preparing by forming a steering committee and coordinating with law enforcement agencies.
WSLS 10 reached out to the Department of Forensic Science. The program manager said the idea behind the grant process is to outsource testing to a private lab. The program manager said they don't have enough staff to analyze more than 2,000 untested rape kits in the state.
The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security is figuring out long term policy changes to prevent another backlog.
Forensic nurse examiner with Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Melissa Harper, works with victims of sexual assaults.
"They often have a question what will happen to the evidence kit and many people believe all evidence. It's natural in our head to believe if you have evidence collected that something is going to happen," said Harper. "At this point not all evidence collected is analyzed."
She believes addressing the backlog is the beginning. She wants to see more changes.
"There is not really a true protocol I'm aware of that helps a law enforcement officer or detective to have evidence processed," said Harper. "It's a case by case basis."
The state didn't give a timeline for when testing will start or when it will get the money.