A grant award under the FY24 DNA backlog reduction program would support ongoing casework capacity increases in the forensic biology unit of the anne arundel county police department forensic services…

The Anne Arundel County Police Department Forensic Services Section was awarded a $268,119 Formula Grant under the FY24 Comprehensive Forensic DNA Analysis Grant Program (CFDA 16.036) administered by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance. The grant will fund the following objectives over the 2-year award period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2026:

1. Retain a full-time, grant-funded laboratory technician to assist with general laboratory duties, QA/QC, and administrative tasks to help reduce the DNA case backlog.
2. Provide overtime funding for the Forensic Biology Unit to process an additional 80 DNA cases and decrease the overall backlog.
3. Purchase specialized equipment, including a QuantStudio 5 DNA quantitation instrument and related supplies, to increase DNA analysis capacity and throughput.

The grant funding is critical to addressing the current DNA case submission levels, reducing the existing backlog, and improving turnaround times for the department and trial deadlines.

A grant award under the FY24 DNA backlog reduction program would support ongoing casework capacity increases in the forensic biology unit of the anne arundel county police department forensic services section to reduce the overall number of DNA cases awaiting analysis. Enhanced productivity and efficiency is expected to minimize the existing case backlog thereby decreasing the overall turnaround time for newly submitted DNA cases through the following objectives: retention of a full-time w-2 temporary grant-funded laboratory technician via salary funding, including health benefits; provide funding for overtime hours for the forensic biology unit. The overtime hours would decrease the DNA case backlog by approximately 80 cases over the award period; and purchase of specialized equipment to keep up with the demand of added casework including the purchase of a quantstudio 5 DNA quantitation instrument and supplies that include pipette tips and quantification kits for additional backlog reduction casework. The FY24 DNA backlog reduction program grant award would provide funding to retain the laboratory technician as a w-2 FTE temporary county contract employee to assist with general laboratory duties including QA/QC, administrative tasks, and general housekeeping. The support function provided by the position will aide in reducing the backlog. The essential tasks performed by the laboratory technician are duties that cannot be readily accomplished by analysts without negatively impacting case turnaround times and throughput. The FY24 DNA backlog reduction program funding will allow the forensic biology unit to increase the processing, recordation, screening, and analysis of DNA case samples therefore, reducing the overall backlog. This grant is critical to addressing the current case submission levels for the forensic biology unit to meet adequate turnaround times for the department as well as trial deadlines. Grant funding will significantly reduce the DNA case backlog and improve the forensic biology units output.