DOJ Grant Cuts Devastate Disability and Victim Services \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ Hundreds of nonprofits lost Justice Department funding after abrupt grant cancellations, including services supporting crime victims, people with disabilities, and trauma survivors. Organizations like Activating Change, which supports deaf survivors, are scaling back critical programs. Critics say the cuts risk public safety and violate prior commitments.
Quick Looks
- More than 350 grants worth $800M canceled midstream by the DOJ.
- Activating Change laid off half its staff, losing $3M in funding.
- Cuts affect crime victim services, anti-violence work, and police reform.
- Officials say priorities shifted to law enforcement and trafficking victims.
- Programs once supported under Trump and Biden both impacted.
- Experts say canceling awarded grants is highly unusual.
- Several grants supported legally mandated services, like PREA audits.
Deep Look
When a deaf mother fleeing abuse arrived at a domestic violence shelter, she needed more than just a roof over her head — she needed someone who could understand her. But without fluent American Sign Language skills, she couldn’t communicate her trauma. That’s when the shelter reached out to Activating Change, a nonprofit that provides trauma-informed sign language interpreters to support crime victims with disabilities.
Over the course of a year, the woman worked with an interpreter to file for divorce, gain custody of her children, access therapy, secure housing, and rebuild her life. It’s the kind of intensive, individualized support that Marjie George, development director at the shelter, calls essential: “Our superpower is adaptability, and having access to services like Activating Change allows us to have that.”
Now, that superpower — and many like it across the country — is vanishing.
On April 22, the U.S. Department of Justice abruptly canceled more than 350 grants totaling over $800 million, including $3 million in direct funding to Activating Change. The move has forced the organization to lay off nearly half its 26-person staff and slash programming that serves some of the nation’s most marginalized communities.
The sweeping cuts impacted services for crime victims, anti-violence initiatives, trauma recovery programs, research institutions, and rural law enforcement support. Some organizations were locked out of the DOJ’s financial system days before reimbursement deadlines for work already completed — leaving critical services unpaid and unfunded.
Amy Solomon, the former assistant attorney general who oversaw the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), called the move “highly unusual.” Now a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, Solomon noted: “You expect any administration to implement new priorities in future budget cycles. You don’t expect grants that have already been awarded — and in many cases, spent — to be pulled back midstream.”
The Office of Justice Programs is typically responsible for distributing around $4 billion in annual grants, often drawn from dedicated funding sources like the Victims of Crime Act, which collects federal fines to fund victim support services. How the DOJ plans to reallocate the rescinded funds remains unclear.
The cancellation letters cited a shift in departmental focus toward “supporting law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, protecting American children, and supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault.” However, critics argue that many defunded programs already served those exact goals.
For example, Roca, an anti-violence program in Baltimore that received about $1 million in grants, now faces a funding gap. Roca works with young men at risk of violence, including gunshot survivors, providing mentorship, therapy, and job training. The program has been credited with helping reduce homicides in the city.
“I’m living proof that it works,” said Sheldon Smith-Gray, a graduate and now employee of Roca. He says the program saved his life and helped him heal after losing his cousin to gun violence.
In New Jersey, Attorney General Matt Platkin said nearly $13 million in active program funding was revoked. He sharply criticized the cuts, saying they endanger public safety and strip communities of vital support. “To say, ‘We’re going to cut programs that protect people from bias, help people with opioid addiction, and keep guns off our streets’ — it’s irresponsible, it’s reckless, it’s dangerous,” he said during a press briefing.
Other affected organizations include the Police Executive Research Forum and the National Policing Institute, both of which lost funding for research and technical assistance to law enforcement, especially in rural communities. The research projects aimed to improve police response to protests and enhance community trust in policing — issues widely recognized as public priorities following national unrest in recent years.
Some of the rescinded grants had been tied to federally mandated functions, such as compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA). Impact Justice, which has managed the PREA Resource Center for more than a decade, lost millions in funding despite its central role in building, maintaining, and operating the software and systems used to audit prisons and train staff.
“We are the ones who execute the work and maintain the systems,” said Michela Bowman, vice president at Impact Justice. “This isn’t just another nonprofit grant — this is essential infrastructure for a legally mandated program.”
Alex Busansky, the organization’s president, said he has received no clarity from DOJ about how or whether they intend to continue PREA compliance efforts. “I can’t tell you what the DOJ plans to do in the alternate,” he said.
Victim support services have also taken a heavy hit. The national crime victim hotline lost funding, as did the International Association of Forensic Nurses, which helps train Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) in underserved areas.
“It’s very important for a survivor to be able to access a rape exam done by a SANE nurse. It’s vital,” said Ilse Knecht of the Joyful Heart Foundation, which also tracks the backlog of untested rape kits. While some grants related to kit testing appear safe for now, she emphasized that survivor services are equally important.
“When we don’t keep this system running — a system that encourages victims to come forward and stay involved in the process — we are doing a disservice. How is this helping public safety?” Knecht asked.
For Activating Change, the future remains uncertain. Executive Director Nancy Smith said the funding cut was a “catastrophic blow,” not just for the organization but for the people it serves — survivors of abuse who are deaf or have disabilities, and who already face overwhelming barriers to accessing justice.
“These aren’t just line items in a budget. They are lifelines,” Smith said. “For the deaf woman in the shelter, and thousands like her across the country, we are part of the safety net. And now that net is unraveling.”
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