The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs
(OJP) today announced more than $47 million in funding to combat human
trafficking and provide vital services to trafficking victims throughout the
United States.
As part of this announcement, Associate Attorney General
Rachel L. Brand visited the national headquarters of the International
Association of Chiefs of Police this afternoon, where she met with Executive
Director Vincent Talucci, Deputy Executive Director Terrence Cunningham, and
Director for Programs Domingo Herraiz. While there, she provided notification
that the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) had awarded the organization a $1
million grant to support a National Anti-Human Trafficking Training and
Technical Assistance for Law Enforcement Task Force, which supports criminal
justice systems efforts to investigate, and prosecute all forms of human
trafficking.
“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the
victims of human trafficking,” said Associate Attorney General Brand. “DOJ grants provide training and technical
assistance to state and local law governments, law enforcement, and victim
service organizations.”
Approximately $31 million of the funds was awarded under
nine OJP grant programs. The grants aim to support the criminal justice
system’s efforts to investigate and prosecute all forms of human trafficking;
offer victims services through experienced providers; and seeks to strengthen
communities’ responses to the sexual exploitation and forced labor of victims
by raising community awareness and providing training and technical assistance.
Grants awarded under Fiscal Year 2017 OJP programs include
the following:
Specialized Services for Victims of All Forms of Human Trafficking; About $7.5 million to 13 victim service organizations to enhance the quality and quantity of specialized services available to all victims of human trafficking.
Legal Access to Victims of Crime: Innovations in Access to Justice Programs; Approximately $5 million to support an award to Equal Justice Works, which will partner with qualified nonprofit organizations to host attorneys who will provide comprehensive and holistic legal services to survivors of human trafficking and enforce victims' rights.
Specialized Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance for Service Providers; $1.7 million to the Freedom Network USA and Futures Without Violence to help victim service providers develop and implement housing and employment practices that better serve victims of human trafficking.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office for Victims
of Crime awarded four grants totaling nearly $3 million to two
multidisciplinary human trafficking task forces under the Enhanced
Collaborative Model to Combat Human Trafficking Program. This initiative supports task forces made up
of victim service providers, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors that
implement a victim-centered approach and work collaboratively to identify sex
and labor trafficking victims of all ages and sexes; investigate and prosecute
trafficking cases at the local, state, tribal and federal levels; and provide a
comprehensive array of quality services that address the individualized needs
of victims.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded $1 million to the
International Association of Chiefs of Police to support National Anti-Human
Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance for Law Enforcement Task Forces.
The task forces support efforts to investigate, and prosecute all forms of
human trafficking. For a list of OVC and BJA awardees, visit
https://go.usa.gov/xRhQ7.
The National Institute of Justice awarded about $2 million
to three research organizations under the Research and Evaluation on
Trafficking in Persons program, which funds research and evaluation efforts to
understand, prevent and respond to trafficking in persons in the United States.
For a list of NIJ awardees, visit https://go.usa.gov/xRh8f.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
(OJJDP) awarded approximately $1.9 million to three mentoring project sites and
one training site under the Mentoring for Child Victims of Commercial Sexual
Exploitation and Domestic Sex Trafficking Initiative. This program helps
organizations develop their capacity to respond to the needs of child victims.
For a list of OJJDP awardees, visit https://go.usa.gov/xRhQs.
In addition to the awards, the Office for Victims of Crime
(OVC) transferred more than $16 million to the Department of Housing and Urban
Development Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs to help address the
housing needs of human trafficking victims.
OVC also dedicated funding of about $100,000 to the Human Trafficking
Prosecution Unit (HTPU) within the DOJ Civil Rights Division for training and
technical assistance. HTPU provides anti-trafficking training and technical
assistance to agencies outside of DOJ, and follows several mandates since the
passage of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.
The Office of Justice Programs, headed by Acting Assistant
Attorney General Alan R. Hanson, provides federal leadership in developing the
nation’s capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice and assist
victims. OJP has six bureaus and offices: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the
Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; the Office for Victims of Crime;
and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending,
Registering and Tracking. More information about OJP and its components can be
found at www.ojp.gov.
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