Despite a pledge from Gov. Tom Wolf to make reducing the number of untested rape kits in Pennsylvania a priority, more than 1,000 still languish in police evidence rooms and crime labs across the commonwealth.

It’s time for that to change.

First, let’s give credit where it is due: Wolf’s pledge last year to cut into the number of untested rape kits wasn’t given and then forgotten.

At this time in 2017 nearly 1,800 rape kits — some reportedly dating back as far as the 1990s — were awaiting testing in Pennsylvania.

That number is now down to about 1,200, according to state officials, thanks to a directive from Wolf’s office ordering state police to hire more DNA testing technicians, at an additional cost of nearly $2.5 million, according to the administration.

The other state official who deserves credit here is Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. It was DePasquale who brought the backlog into the public consciousness, after a 2016 audit by his office found that only a third of Pennsylvania’s police agencies were complying with state law on the rape kits.

In Pennsylvania police agencies are required to pick up kits within three days of being notified of a test, and deliver them to a testing facility within 16 days. Ultimately, all kits are supposed to be tested within six months.

Obviously that’s not being accomplished. And as DePasquale noted in a letter to Wolf last week, it “will likely take years to effectively eliminate,” the state’s backlog.

So it’s encouraging that Wolf’s administration has pledged to increase funding by more than $1 million for the current fiscal year. That brings the state’s total funding for rape kits to $6.22 million, according to J.J. Abbott, Wolf’s spokesman.

Despite this progress, this state-of-affairs is nothing to celebrate.

This backlog is simply unacceptable.

It’s a statewide embarrassment and sends the message that Pennsylvania does not care about the victims of sexual violence.

It’s true that the number of untested rape kits will likely never fall to zero, as police departments need a victim’s consent to proceed with testing and some opt not to give them the OK.

But that is no excuse for officials’ failure to maintain the funding necessary to ensure kits are tested within the timeline mandated by state law.