According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) website, the goal of the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) grant program is to "address the growing number of unsubmitted [sexual assault kits] in law enforcement custody, and to help provide resolution for victims when possible.... By promoting training, evidence tracking, and best practices, SAKI is helping jurisdictions establish effective and sustainable practices for collecting and processing forensic evidence, investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases, and supporting survivors of sexual assault."

Through the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP), Connecticut has received two SAKI grants from BJA. Included within the second award, was funding for DESPP to review approximately one-third of the cases identified in 2015 to determine investigation practices, patterns of victimization, offender profiles and reasons SAK were not sent to the lab. DESPP subsequently contracted with the IMRP to perform this review. The review team consists of IMRP's Aileen Keays, and University of New Haven Professor Dr. Anne Li Kringen and graduate student Terri Robbins.