Washington, DC - The Department of Justice announced it has awarded more than $100 million in funding, through the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), to combat human trafficking and provide vital services to trafficking victims throughout the United States.
“Human traffickers remain a dire threat to human rights across the globe and their actions pose a serious danger to public safety right here in our own country,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “I’m proud that these resources will help our law enforcement officers and victim service providers hold perpetrators accountable and give victims of these abominable crimes a place to turn for refuge and support.”
“The fight against human trafficking is never ending, and it is our front-line law enforcement officers and an army of compassionate service providers who are leading the charge,” said Office of Justice Programs Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan. “The Attorney General has made it clear that the Department of Justice will use every means at its disposal to bring traffickers to justice and serve trafficking victims. We are proud to support his vision of a nation, and a world, free of the scourge of human trafficking.”
Approximately $80 million of the funds were awarded under five Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) grant programs. The remaining $20 million were awarded by OJP's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to jurisdictions, service providers and task forces all over the country.
Grants awarded under FY 2019 OVC programs aim to enhance the quality and quantity of services available to survivors of human trafficking. Specific programs being funded include:
- The Direct Services to Support Victims of Human Trafficking program gives nearly $53 million to 77 organizations to enhance the quality and quantity of services available to victims of all forms of trafficking.
- The Integrated Services for Minor Victims of Human Trafficking program awards over $15 million total to 32 programs to provide minor victims of trafficking with high-quality services that are developmentally appropriate and tailored for their individual needs.
- The Improving Outcomes for Child and Youth Victims of Human Trafficking program gives over $6 million total to four organizations to integrate human trafficking policy and programming at the state level and to enhance coordinated, multidisciplinary and statewide approaches to serving trafficked youth.
- The Field-Generated Innovations in Assistance to Victims of Human Trafficking program awards $4 million total to five programs to fill gaps and improve the victim services field’s response to human trafficking.
- The Specialized Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance and Resource Development program awarded $1 million to provide efficient and streamlined technical assistance and training to improve services offered to labor trafficking victims nationwide.
Grants awarded under FY 2019 OJJDP programs will support organizations in developing their capacity to respond to the needs of children and youth who are victims of domestic sex trafficking and labor trafficking. The Specialized Services and Mentoring for Child and Youth Victims of Sex Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation and the Preventing Sex Trafficking of Girls and Involvement in the Juvenile Justice System grant programs provide more than $4 million to nine organizations to support child and youth victims of sexual exploitation and domestic sex trafficking and girls involved in the juvenile justice system.
BJA awarded 13 grants totaling nearly $11 million under the Enhanced Collaborative Model to Combat Human Trafficking: Supporting Law Enforcement’s Role. This initiative helps law enforcement organizations build capacity and operational effectiveness as core members of collaborative, multidisciplinary human trafficking task forces.
NIJ awarded over $2 million to five research organizations under the Research and Evaluation on Trafficking in Persons Program, which funds research and evaluation projects that help federal, state, local and tribal criminal justice agencies and victim service providers respond to the challenges posed by human trafficking in their jurisdictions.
For a complete list of individual grant programs, award amounts, and jurisdictions that will receive funding, visit: https://ojp.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/2019/ojp-news-10082019_a.pdf