Source: United States Department of Justice News
Yakima, Washington – Vanessa R. Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, today announced two Department of Justice grant awards to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. The first grant allocates $1,000,000 to target violent crimes against women. The second provides $609,751 in additional federal funding to provide services to crime victims on the Yakama Nation. Both grants were awarded on September 21, 2022.
Funding for the $1,000,000 grant was awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, Indian Tribal Governments Program, which provides funds to Tribal nations to develop and enhance strategies for curtailing violent crimes and increasing the safety of Native American women. The Yakama Nation is one of just thirty tribes to receive funding in 2022 through the Indian Tribal Governments Program.
The second grant, totaling $609,751, was awarded through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). OVC is charged by Congress with administering the Crime Victims Fund, which supports a broad array of programs and services that focus on helping victims in the immediate aftermath of crime and continuing to support them as they rebuild their lives. Millions of dollars are invested annually in victim compensation and assistance in every U.S. state and territory.
In announcing these awards, U.S. Attorney Waldref stated, “It is critical that we work together – with our federal, state, local and Tribal partners – to address violent crime on the Yakama Nation. The citizens of the Yakama Nation deserve nothing less.” She continued, “These latest grant awards demonstrate the federal government’s continued commitment to combatting violent crime in Indian country. In fact, in the year since I became the United States Attorney, the FBI has devoted significant increased resources and personnel to fighting violent crime in the Yakima area. For example, we established an FBI Task Force targeting violent crime and drug distribution in the Yakima County. My office also works closely with federal, state, and Tribal law enforcement to diligently investigate – and where appropriate to prosecute – homicides, violent criminal offenses, suspicious deaths, and reports of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. These combined efforts, along with the grant awards announced today, are a further indication the Department of Justice is doing its part to keep all citizens in Eastern Washington safe and strong.”
Additional information about grants and funding through the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs is available at https://www.ojp.gov. Information regarding the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence against Women is available at https://www.justice.gov/ovw. Information about OVC is available at https://ovc.ojp.gov/.