Local tribes receive funding for law enforcement services for crime victims

Olympia, WA – Local tribal nations awarded nearly $1.6 million to strengthen law enforcement and provide services for crime victims.

In total, ten tribes in Western Washington were awarded nearly $13 million in U.S. Department of Justice grant funding to enhance criminal justice and safety in their communities.

U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran says that one notable grant in the list, although not local, will fund a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney to work with the FBI’s Northwestern Washington Safe Trails Task Force to prosecute crime in tribal communities. That $482,419 three-year grant was awarded to the Swinomish Tribal Community, though the attorney will prosecute cases for a consortium of tribes located in northwest Washington.

“These grants provide a wide range of services in our tribal communities – everything from services for crime victims, to sex offender monitoring, to reducing alcohol and drug related crime,” said U.S. Attorney Moran. “It is a competitive process to obtain these grants, and I congratulate our tribal partners on their successful applications.”

• The Quinault Indian Nation in Taholah was awarded $480,187 to enhance victim services.
• The Confederated Tribes of Chehalis Reservation in Oakville were awarded $750,000 to strengthen their tribal justice system and $369,213 to support services for crime victims.
• The Lummi Indian Nation in Bellingham was awarded four grants totaling $2.5 million. The funded programs include: $748,608 to enhance tribal justice programs and reduce Alcohol and substance abuse related crime; $720,000 to support crime victims; $374,994 to support programs to reduce Elder Abuse; and $720,000 to hire a tribal attorney and advocate to assist crime victims with civil litigation.
• The Swinomish Tribal Community in La Conner was awarded four grants totaling $1.4 million. In addition to the $482,419 for a designated attorney, the Tribe was awarded two additional grants totaling $802,205 to support services for crime victims. An additional grant of $134,267 will pay for personnel to enter 10 years of historical data into the nationwide National Criminal Background Check System.
• Tulalip Tribes of Washington was awarded three grants totaling $1.5 million. A $643,871 grant will enhance the tribes family drug court program working to get parents into treatment and reunite families. Two additional grants totaling $926,845 will got to support services for victims of crime.
• Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in Kingston was awarded three grants totaling nearly $1.5 million: An $898,000 grant to enhance the tribal justice system; $491,542 to support victims of crime; and $108,750 to enhance sex offender monitoring.
• Puyallup Tribe of Indians were awarded two grants: $783,873 to improve the Tribal justice system and $717,292 to support victims of crime.
• The Makah Tribe in Neah Bay was awarded $498,796 to support their drug court and $719,528 to support victims of crime.
• The Skokomish Indian Tribe was awarded $374,633 to improve their sex offender monitoring program and $488,978 to improve services for crime victims.
• The Hoh Indian Tribe in Forks was awarded $514,778 to expand victim services with a special focus on educating the community on human trafficking and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The grants were awarded by a variety of DOJ agencies including the Office of Victims of Crime, the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Copies of the grant awards are available from the press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Communications Director Emily Langlie at (206) 553-4110 or [email protected].