Joyful Heart in the News

California legislators this week set aside partisanship to move toward reducing the state’s backlog of untested rape kits, with both houses passing separate bills targeting the problem.

While California may have a reputation for progressive policies and a history of tough-on-crime laws, Los Angeles and L.A. County at one point had 12,000 untested rape kits, which law enforcement only caught up on in 2011.

And in Long Beach, it was still unclear as of last August whether a backlog exists, according to the Joyful Heart Foundation, a nonprofit seeking to transform society's response to sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. The group has backed the bills through its End the Backlog efforts.