Did you know that every month, Joyful Heart publishes a newsletter on the latest news and progress around the rape kit backlog? We do!

If you're an ENDTHEBACKLOG subscriber, you can be the first to get our monthly newsletter in your inbox: new blog posts from our team, the latest on legislation that might be affecting rape kit testing in your community, news from across the country about the backlog and more.

Today, we're giving everyone an inside look at our most recent ENDTHEBACKLOG newsletter. To sign up for this and other updates from our ENDTHEBACKLOG program, click here.

President Obama Includes $41 Million for Rape Kit Reform in Budget Request

On Tuesday, President Obama announced his FY17 budget proposal, which included $41 million in funding for the U.S. Department of Justice's community-based sexual assault response initiative. These federal funds will build upon the investments made to address the rape kit backlog in FY15 and FY16, and provide much-needed support for more communities as they work to end their backlogs and secure justice for survivors.

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Legislative Landscape of Rape Kit Reform: 2016

Across the country, the 2016 legislative session is in full swing and 18 states—that's right, 18!—have already introduced bills that would change the way rape kit evidence is handled. Curious if your state is committed to ending the rape kit backlog? In this month's blog, we examine the landscape of rape kit reform.

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Drafter's Checklist for Rape Kit Reform

In the past year, several states have committed to rape kit reform by introducing and enacting legislation that establishes clear policies around rape kit handling. Want to know what we believe should be included? We've developed a checklist that covers the critical provisions that should be in any comprehensive rape kit reform.

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ENDTHEBACKLOG in the News

Read these stories and more:

• Bill Cosby might have changed the way police investigate rape (The Washington Post)
• 'He could have been stopped': Man linked to multiple rapes led double life, women say (Dallas Morning News)
• Rape-Kit Testing at Heart of Ohio Supreme Court Case (Public News Service)
• Testing rape kits a priority as is bill (Lizbeth Benacquisto, Florida Senate)
• Backlog of Untested Rape Kits Slowly Starts to Diminish (Good 4 Utah)
• It's Not a Backlog, It's a Lack of Concern for Rape Victims (CounterPunch)
• Little progress made on untested rape kits (Post Crescent)
• Gov. Ducey sets $500k aside to test hundreds of rape kits (ABC 15 Arizona)
• Florida Department of Law Enforcement says it has backlog of 13,000-plus rape test kits (The Ledger)

Fact: Last year, we tracked more than 2,020 news stories across the country about rape kit testing. For the latest news and media coverage, visit ENDTHEBACKLOG's Media Archive, or browse our interactive map to find out what's going on in your community specifically.

Again: want to make sure you receive the monthly ENDTHEBACKLOG newsletter? Sign up here.

Advocate for rape kit reform in your community by writing to your elected officials. Tell them testing matters. It takes only a couple minutes to write to your state and federal legislators. Visit our Action Center here.

And you can support our efforts to end the backlog and bring the possibility of healing and justice to survivors with a donation. We rely on private funds—from people just like you—to keep this work going. Donate here.