The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week it is terminating hundreds of federal grants, a move that will impact several Southern California organizations providing victim services and working to prevent crime in local communities.
According to Reuters, the Justice Department is cutting 365 grants totaling $811 million that were awarded to organizations across the country. The Washington Post reported that the Justice Department cited concerns about inadequate vetting processes under the previous administration as the reason for the cancellations.
The cuts span a wide range of programs, including services for domestic violence survivors, trauma centers, crisis hotlines, police training and mental health, juvenile justice initiatives, human trafficking prevention, and hate crime reporting efforts, according to Reuters. Grants supporting criminal justice research were also among those terminated.
A list of targeted programs published by Reuters shows that dozens of organizations across California will be affected, including several in Los Angeles.
One of them is St. John’s Community Health, which is poised to lose $400,000 in funding, President and CEO Jim Mangia said.
“This is a very important grant to hate-crime victims,” Mangia said. “It allowed us to provide case management, care coordination and direct legal services to hate crime victims.”
Mangia said the funding loss is especially concerning given the recent rise in hate crimes. According to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, reported hate crimes increased by 45% from 2022 to 2023, reaching 1,350 incidents—the highest number recorded since the agency began tracking data in 1980.
St. John’s plans to take legal action in an attempt to have the grant reinstated, Mangia said, and remains hopeful for a positive outcome.
The Urban Peace Institute, based in Los Angeles, is also bracing for major losses. Executive Director Fernando Rejón said programs supported by the…
Read the full article here
