The contra costa county office of the sheriff forensic services division (FSD) is an accredited crime laboratory under the american national standards institute (ansi) national accreditation board…

The Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff Forensic Services Division has been awarded a $251,941 Formula Grant under the U.S. Department of Justice's DNA Backlog Reduction Program (CFDA 16.741). The grant funding will be used to provide salary and fringe benefits for two full-time Forensic Analyst Project positions. These grant-funded employees will support the Biology/DNA Unit by validating new DNA methods and technologies, processing DNA casework to reduce backlogs, and performing critical support tasks like reagent preparation, equipment operation, and quality control. In addition, the grant funds will be used to purchase DNA chemistries, including purification and amplification kits, to accommodate the increased volume of DNA samples being processed as the Division's capacity expands. The overall objectives are to increase the number of DNA samples analyzed and reduce sample turnaround times, enabling the Forensic Services Division to better meet the needs of the over one million residents it serves across Contra Costa County.

The contra costa county office of the sheriff forensic services division (FSD) is an accredited crime laboratory under the american national standards institute (ansi) national accreditation board (anab), a non-profit, non-governmental entity. The crime laboratory provides forensic services to more than 24 law enforcement agencies within contra costa county, servicing over one million residents. The FY23 DNA capacity enhancement and backlog reduction (cebr) program grant will be used to provide continual salary and fringe benefits for two forensic analyst project (FAP) positions. These full-time, grant funded employees will support the biology/DNA unit with specific capacity enhancement activities, such as validating new DNA methods and technologies. The faps serving as a technician will perform DNA casework (process, record, screen and analyze DNA samples) contributing to backlog reduction. The faps will also perform reagent preparation, sample set-up, equipment operation, quality assurance and quality control tasks. Grant funds are critical to the performance of the biology/DNA unit and allow dedicated staff to focus on method validations and equipment operation, ensuring that DNA samples are efficiently processed through the case management system. In addition, grant funds will be used to purchase DNA chemistries, including DNA purification and amplification kits to accommodate the increased volume of samples being processed as capacity expands. The overall grant objectives are to increase the number of samples analyzed and reduce sample turnaround time. Using FY23 cebr funds the crime laboratory will be better equipped to meet the needs of the community we serve.