Bucks County sexual assault survivors will be able to track their evidence kits online starting in December after Pennsylvania launched its first statewide tracking system.
The web-based platform, called Track-Kit, went live in three pilot counties on Sept. 29 and is scheduled to expand to all 67 Pennsylvania counties, including Bucks, in December. State officials announced the system at a Sept. 29 press conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg.
Before Track-Kit, survivors who submitted to a sexual assault examination often received no updates on what happened to their evidence afterward, officials said at the announcement.
"We've taken this opportunity to really educate our patients and share with them the opportunity that they have to regain choice in how they want to proceed with their situation when that had been once taken away from them," Emily Huggins, a forensic nurse examiner, said at the Sept. 29 announcement.
Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who chairs the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), said survivors who go through the examination process deserve to know their kit is being handled with care and that their case is a priority.
How it works
Track-Kit is being tested with 12 hospitals, 64 police departments, forensic nurses and labs in Erie, Lancaster and York counties. The pilot stress-tests the system before the December statewide launch.
The platform was created under Act 122, a bipartisan law signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro in 2024 that required the state to build a sexual assault evidence tracking system. A $2.5 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, awarded in January 2025, funded the system's design and implementation.
The Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect (PCAR) is providing training to hospitals, law enforcement, forensic labs and victim service professionals across the state.
Bucks County connection
No specific date within December has been announced for when Bucks County agencies will go live on Track-Kit. No public statements from Bucks County law enforcement or hospitals about their Track-Kit readiness have appeared as of Oct. 7.
Two Bucks County victim service organizations received significant state grants on Sept. 9, according to PCCD grant records. The Network of Victim Assistance received $1,202,056 in Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding for 2025–2027. A Woman's Place in Doylestown received $622,511 for domestic violence core services.
Those grants come as victim service programs statewide face uncertainty tied to federal VOCA funding. Davis said some organizations have reduced staff, limited outreach and cut essential services as a result.
Backlog history
The tracking effort builds on years of work. Pennsylvania reported more than 3,000 untested rape kits in 2015. By 2020, then-Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said the backlog had dropped to 94 kits.
Between 2023 and 2025, an average of 3,800 rape cases were reported annually to law enforcement statewide, with fewer than half resolved. The state's 2026–27 budget includes a $12 million increase for rape crisis centers, which the Shapiro administration described as nearly doubling state support.
Bucks County residents who need victim services can reach A Woman's Place at 800-220-8116.
