Justice Department Awards Over $273.4 Million To Improve Public Safety, Serve Crime Victims In American Indian And Alaska Native Communities

Bay Mills Indian Community, Hannahville Indian Community and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in the Western District of Michigan Awarded over $1.8 Million in Funding

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN – The Department of Justice announced today that it has awarded over $273.4 million in grants to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

          "Violent crime and domestic abuse in American Indian and Alaska Native communities remain at unacceptably high levels, and they demand a response that is both clear and comprehensive," said Attorney General William P. Barr. "We will continue to work closely with our tribal partners to guarantee they have the resources they need to curb violence and bring healing to the victims most profoundly affected by it."

          Three Tribes in the Western District of Michigan were awarded a total of $1,890,469 in funding, as follows:

          United States Attorney Andrew Birge commented that: "These grants are welcome news. The Department of Justice has a trust responsibility with the Tribes in Michigan. And these funds will support Tribal efforts to enhance public safety and victim assistance in important ways, such as through improvements to the buildings that house their justice services, providing direct intervention and aid to victims of sexual assault, and securing equipment and training for their police departments."

          Bryan Newland, Chairman of the Bay Mills Indian Community Executive Council, expressed his appreciation for the awards: "We are grateful for the support from our Trustee to help us in our work to create a justice system that protects women and children in our community, and that is focused on making our community a healthier place – rather than cycling repeat offenders in and out of jail."

          Nationwide, 236 grants were awarded to 149 American Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages and other tribal designees through the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation, a streamlined application for tribal-specific grant programs. Of the $118 million awarded via CTAS, just over $62.6 million comes from the Office of Justice Programs, about $33.1 million from the Office on Violence Against Women and more than $23.2 million from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. A portion of the funding will support tribal youth mentoring and intervention services, help native communities implement requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and provide training and technical assistance to tribal communities. Another $5.5 million was funded by OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance to provide training and technical assistance to CTAS awardees.

          The Department also announced awards and other programming totaling $167.2 million in a set-aside program to serve victims of crime. The awards are intended to help tribes develop, expand and improve services to victims by supporting programming and technical assistance. About $25.6 million of these awards were awarded under CTAS and are included in the $118 million detailed above.

          CTAS funding helps tribes develop and strengthen their justice systems’ response to crime, while expanding services to meet their communities’ public safety needs. The awards cover 10 purpose areas: public safety and community policing; justice systems planning; alcohol and substance abuse; corrections and correctional alternatives; children’s justice act partnerships; services for victims of crime; violence against women; juvenile justice; violent crime reduction; and tribal youth programs.

          The Department also provided $6.1 million to help tribes to comply with federal law on sex offender registration and notification, $1.7 million in separate funding to assist tribal youth and nearly $500,000 to support tribal research on missing and murdered indigenous women and children and other public safety-related topics.

          Today’s announcement is part of the Justice Department’s ongoing initiative to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

          A listing of today’s announced CTAS awards is available at: https://www.justice.gov/tribal/awards. 

END