Former Assistant AG: Local Nonprofit Workers Are Public Safety Heroes Too

Newsweek

29-05-2025

It's been one month since the Department of Justices ended 373 grants worth $820 million in federal support for a wide range of state and local public safety programs. Now, the ripple effects are coming into focus—and the full reach of the cuts is far broader than initially thought.
With the mass termination of DOJ funding, more than 200 grant recipients in 37 states lost federal funding overnight. But so did hundreds of other partner organizations, which were slated to receive "subgrant" support to collaborate with direct grant recipients on a broad range of projects.
Department of Justice text on the side of their HQ in Washington, D.C.
Department of Justice text on the side of their HQ in Washington, D.C.
TheA new Council on Criminal Justice analysis finds that altogether, the funding cuts hit an estimated 554 nonprofits, government agencies, and other public safety institutions across 48 states and territories. This means that more than twice as many organizations were affected by the cuts than originally believed. The vast majority of terminated funds—more than 93 percent, or about $769 million—supported nonprofit organizations.
The Justice Department contends that the cuts are justified in large part because the terminated grants were mostly to nonprofits, rather than "to states or local jurisdictions that directly serve our communities." In response to congressional inquiries, department officials say the money recouped from nonprofits could be reallocated to "new grants that more effectively support law enforcement operations and the Department's broader goals, consistent with President Trump's Executive Orders and applicable law."
This is a flawed and misinformed argument based on the theory that only law enforcement keep us safe. Police are an essential piece of the nation's public safety infrastructure. But countless police leaders have told me that they can't—and shouldn't be asked to—do the job alone.
Research and experience make clear that public safety is a shared responsibility between police and communities. Nonprofits serve our communities directly, often in close partnership with law enforcement and other city officials. Many of the terminated grants to nonprofits were doing just that—working hand-in-hand with local public safety agencies to provide a multitude of services, from victim assistance to violence intervention, substance use treatment, intervention in mental health crises, and much more.
By expanding our portfolio of crime control and prevention strategies, community-based providers reduce the burden of social issues like behavioral health disorders or homelessness that would otherwise fall to law enforcement, freeing up officers to focus on deterring and responding to serious crimes.
I saw the power of these partnerships first-hand—dozens of times—during my time as the assistant attorney general of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), the federal government's primary source of support for state, local, and tribal public safety efforts. In each city I visited, I heard stories about exposure to violence and its deep impact on families and neighborhoods. I also heard about hope, optimism, and the integrity with which frontline service providers approach their very tough work, every day.
A prime example is UTEC, a community nonprofit working to interrupt violence and improve prison reentry outcomes in Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill, Mass. On a visit there in 2023, I joined other Justice Department officials for an in-depth look at how UTEC's street outreach workers get through to the highest risk youth and help them change their lives. The voices of these heroes rang with pride as they described how they instinctively react "like firefighters" to emergency calls and "plant seeds of hope" in some of the hardest hit neighborhoods. We were joined that day by a local police chief and sheriff, both full of praise for the work of UTEC as a key partner in keeping their communities safe.
OJP funding was expanding UTEC's capacity to prevent violence in more neighborhoods before the grant was abruptly terminated a few weeks ago. This is just one among the hundreds of nonprofits that lost funding last month. Nearly every one of those organizations has a story to tell about ways they are helping make their communities safer, stronger, and healthier—and many have the data to back it up.
Regardless of our personal politics, we all share a common goal: to live in thriving communities where our children can play, and where our families and friends are safe. Getting there is the job of law enforcement and communities working together. Federal disinvestment in justice-focused nonprofits threatens to destabilize public safety at a time when we should be doubling down on our collective responsibilities.
Amy L. Solomon, senior fellow at the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice, oversaw federal justice grantmaking as U.S. assistant attorney general in the Biden administration.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.