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The Hill
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Victimized twice: Trump's DOJ cuts crime victim grants
President Trump ran on a pro-law enforcement, 'tough on crime' approach to criminal activity. A month ago, the White House claimed to offer 'unending support to every victim of crime.' Well, apparently that support just ended. Last month, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced — no, she bragged — that she was cutting $800 million in grants, including those providing services and support to crime victims. The suggestion that there is massive 'bloat' in helping people who have been violently victimized is absurd. The Department of Justice should look to its own history to understand how victims have been ignored and retraumatized by the criminal justice system, how Congress has taken steps to improve this and how hundreds of nonprofit organizations have been filling in the gaps. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan created the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime to address the needs of the millions of Americans and their families who were victimized by crime and ignored by the criminal justice system. This task force's research described a system that was 'appallingly out of balance' for victims, with a 'neglect of crime victims' that was 'a national disgrace.' The fiscally conservative Reagan administration recognized the need to have Congress provide federal funding 'to assist in the operation of federal, state, local and non-profit victim/witness assistance agencies that make comprehensive assistance available to all victims of crime.' And Congress did so. Nonprofit organizations also did so, helping to fill the gap and repair the trauma inflicted on innocent crime victims. National organizations such as the National Center for Victims of Crime and the National Crime Victim Law Institute ensure that critical services are provided to victims of child sex trafficking, domestic violence, rural crime victims and other violent crimes every day. Locally, many grassroots organizations rely on such grants to serve people in immediate need. These include programs such as the 'Emmett Till cold case investigations and prosecution program' in New Orleans and a program that serves human trafficking victims in Virginia — both of which the Department of Justice cut. These organizations do tremendous work, but this funding has never been an adequate amount to make victims whole. And yet, last month the Trump administration announced massive cuts to victim services because they no longer are 'aligned with Trump administration priorities.' Apparently, a national hotline connecting tens of thousands of victims to services, as the National Center for Victims of Crime's VictimConnect Resource Center does, was not a Department of Justice priority. Similarly, filling this gap by training nearly 2,500 victim attorneys and advocates from 36 states across 30 trainings to serve victims of crime, as the National Crime Victim Law Institute did last year alone, is not a priority under Bondi. It seems that providing sign language interpreters for deaf victims, a study of elder abuse victims and a program to keep prison guards safe are also not Justice Department priorities. Since the cuts were announced, the Department of Justice has at least temporarily reversed two of them. But it should be noted that the department initially claimed the cuts were all 'meticulously reviewed.' The threat to victims remains clear. Congress must act preemptively to ensure that these programs are protected and the Department of Justice gets its 'priorities' back in line. More than 40 years ago, Reagan's Presidential Task Force found that 'the innocent victims of crime have been overlooked, their cries for justice have gone unheeded, and their wounds — personal, emotional, and financial — have gone unattended.' Today, the Department of Justice must live up to its promise to crime victims, and Congress must heed the cries of victims and protect these needed — yet barely adequate — services from the Trump administration's assault. It is one thing to suffer the attack of a violent criminal; it is quite another to be assaulted by the Department of Justice when it terminates crucial services. Congress is all that stands between victims and this re-traumatization. It must stand up to the Department of Justice and insist that their newfound 'priorities' include these critical victim services. Mary G. Leary is a professor of law at the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law.
CBS News
27-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Justice Department halts funds for programs for victims of hate crimes, child abuse, school violence and more
CBS News has obtained a list of 365 federal grant programs halted this week by the Justice Department, disrupting programs to help victims of hate crime and sex trafficking, children who've suffered violence, and refugees. The department also paused programs aimed at reducing school shootings, efforts to combat domestic terror and an Emmett Till cold case initiative in the Southeast. At least some of the grants were halted in memos sent Tuesday to nonprofit organizations by the Justice Department. The memos alerted program operators that the projects no longer "effectuate" Justice Department priorities. The cancellation of the federal grants caused disruptions at some nonprofit programs, according to organization leaders who spoke with CBS News. The head of a nonprofit that helps youth crime victims in Oakland, California, called the funding freeze a "devastating blow." Nancy Smith told CBS News she made plans to lay off 10 employees from her national "Activating Change" nonprofit, which helps provide sign language interpreters and legal aid to crime victims with disabilities and hearing impairments. Smith said 40% of her budget disappeared overnight. The list was provided by a federal source with oversight over the agency's funding of federal grant programs. Programs halted by Justice Department Obtained by CBS News The Justice Department told CBS News at least two of the grant funds, however, for the National Center for Victims of Crime in Maryland and The National Network to End Domestic Violence in Washington, D.C., have been restored since last week's memo was sent. The National Center for Victims of Crime, in Landover, Maryland, warned CBS News on Thursday that it planned to shutter its national crime victims hotline because of the cancellation of its Justice Department grant. The hotline receives approximately 16,000 calls from crime victims every year. But one day after a CBS News report about the prospect that the hotline would be shuttered, the organization's director notified CBS News that the Justice Department restored the grant money. A Justice Department spokesperson told CBS News the organizations that have lost their grant funding awards will have 30 days to appeal the decision. "We are confident that these cuts are consistent with the administration's priorities while at the same time protecting services that tangibly impact victims," the spokesperson said. The list of 365 grant programs notified of grant cancellations includes a broad array of initiatives to help crime victims and prevent violence. The impacted organizations include a San Francisco-based organization that seeks to reduce hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, a New York organization that works to reduce school shootings, the "Emmett Till cold case investigations and prosecution program" in New Orleans, the "Matthew Shepard and James Byrd hate crimes training and technical assistance" initiative for crime reduction in Florida, a Michigan group that supports re-entry for young offenders and a Virginia group that helps human trafficking and sex victims. Renee Williams, the executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, said she's grateful the Justice Department restored her grant funding, but told CBS News "our partners are still battling." Williams said the organization's crime victim hotline is a critical tool for those who suffer violence. Williams told CBS News, "After calling us, countless victims indicated that they had nowhere else to turn, but found hope, help, and comfort from our services." Joe Griffin, executive of director of California-based Youth Alive! told CBS News the interruption of his group's federal grant would have a devastating impact on community initiatives. "To do this ahead of summer, when we know there will likely be an uptick in violence, is really troubling," Griffin said. "We need our government to show up for our young people the way we do—every day, without fail." Other projects that were notified of terminations of their federal grants include the following: A Memphis, Tennessee, group that helps provide victims advocacy and support for non-English speaking crime victims An Atlanta project that supports crime victims under the age of 18 A Bronx, N.Y. initiative to prevent overdoses A Chicago-based study of elder-abuse victims A Florida project to help ensure the safety of correctional officers A Virginia-based project to help human trafficking victims.
CBS News
24-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Crime victims groups stripped of federal grant awards by Trump administration
A number of nonprofit safety and victims organizations tell CBS News they are being stripped of federal grant funding by the Department of Justice. One of the organizations, the National Center for Victims of Crime, said it will have to shutter its hotline service for crime victims as early as Friday due to the funding reduction. CBS News has obtained a copy of a memo sent Tuesday by the DOJ's Office of Justice Programs to some nonprofit organizations. The memo alerts the groups that their federal grant awards are being "terminated" because the funding "no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities." Among the organizations who have been stripped of their federal funding is a major Maryland criminal victims organization, which provides healing services for major city violent crime victims. The organization requested its name not be revealed by CBS News to avoid retribution. In an internal memo obtained by CBS News, the organization's leader wrote, "We are not the only organization impacted. Funding cuts and cancellations were also announced to approximately 55 other violence prevention, victim advocacy and substance abuse programs nationwide." Another impacted organization is the Youth Alive nonprofit in Oakland, California, which has helped young people who have suffered from violent crime. The organization, founded in 1991, touts its work supporting gunshot victims, including at hospital bedsides. Executive Director Joseph Griffin told CBS News the loss of funding is a "devastating blow." "We're not just responding to violence — we're stopping it before it starts, supporting survivors in the aftermath, and walking with families through their deepest pain. When someone is shot in Oakland, we show up. Without this support, survivors will be left alone to languish in hospital beds with no roadmap to recovery — just pain, fear, and retaliation," Griffin said. Former Department of Justice Civil Rights Division official Stacey Young told CBS News, "This administration can't claim to care about things like supporting crime victims, curbing gun violence, and reducing opioid deaths while slashing grants to entities that do the hard work to achieve these goals." Young is the founder of Justice Connection, an organization of Justice Department alumni who've spoken out against some of the Trump administration's overhaul of the agency. The National Center for Victims of Crime said the reduction in federal funding is potentially debilitating to its mission. "We're shocked that an administration that claims to care about protecting victims would leave so many vulnerable Americans without access to an essential lifeline," said Renée Williams, CEO of the National Center for Victims of Crime. Williams told CBS News the funding reduction could force the shuttering of a crime victims hotline by Friday, April 25. Williams said the hotline had been used 16,000 times by crime survivors last year. "After calling us, countless victims indicated that they had nowhere else to turn, but found hope, help and comfort from our services," she said. "The termination of this federal grant has had an immediate impact." Williams added, "The Justice Department also canceled a grant through which the National Center for Victims of Crime is building peer-support group programs for crime victims at 10 sites across the country, as well as a grant through which our team creates educational content for National Crime Victims' Rights Week." The DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Attorney General Pam Bondi, a former state attorney general in Florida, touted other grant cuts in a social media post Wednesday evening. "The Department of Justice has started cutting millions of dollars in wasteful grants," her post said. She listed three examples: $2 million for "national listening sessions of individuals with lived experience," $695,000 for "a parallel convergent mixed-methods case study research design to assess the efficacy of police departments' LGBTQ liaison services" and $250,000 for "working with incarcerated transgender individuals providing gender affirming care to including housing in gender appropriate facilities." The memo distributed to some victims' organizations specifies that any further expenses will not be reimbursed by the Justice Department and federal agencies after receipt of the memo. "The use of award funds will not be allowed for obligations incurred, or expenditures made, after receipt of this notice, other than pursuant to closeout responsibilities," the memo said.
