JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS OVER $97 MILLION TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SAFETY AND VICTIM SERVICES FOR AMERICAN INDIANS AND ALASKA NATIVES

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice today announced 206 awards, totaling more than $97 million, to American Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, tribal consortia and tribal designees. The announcement was made at the 2015 Tribal Leader Briefing, sponsored by the National Congress of American Indians and included Tribal leaders, Members of Congress and Administration officials.

“For the past five years, the CTAS program has helped tribes develop their own comprehensive approaches to making their communities safer and healthier,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F. Delery. “CTAS grants have funded hundreds of programs to better serve crime victims, promote community policing and strengthen justice systems. This year’s awards also support efforts to reduce domestic and dating violence and promote wellness and healing for tribal youth, among many other programs.”

The awards are made through the department’s Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS), a single application for tribal-specific grant programs. The department developed CTAS through its Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Office of Justice Programs and Office on Violence Against Women and administered the first round of consolidated grants in September 2010.

Since then, more than 1,400 grants totaling more than $620 million have been provided to enhance law enforcement practices, victim services and sustain crime prevention and intervention efforts in nine 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; and tribal youth programs.

American Indians and Alaska Natives experience disproportionate rates of violence and victimization and often encounter significant obstacles to identifying and accessing culturally relevant services. CTAS funding helps tribes to develop and strengthen tribal justice systems’ response to crime, while significantly increasing programs and services available to them.

A listing of today’s awards is available at http://www.justice.gov/tribal/. A fact sheet on CTAS is available at http://www.justice.gov/tribal/file/771781/download.

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.