WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) today announced that the U.S. Department of Justice has awarded the Maine Department of Health and Human Services and the Maine Department of Public Safety two grants totaling $2,246,753.
“The programs funded through these grants will facilitate critical crime victim assistance as well as anti-gang enforcement and prevention,” said Snowe and Collins in a joint statement. “It is essential that enforcement officials throughout Maine continue to expand these efforts. We commend the work of all organizations involved – from the local to the state and federal levels – in this important work.”
The funding is distributed as follows:
• $2,131,000 from the Office for Victims of Crime, through the Crime Victims Fund, to the Maine Department of Health & Human Services to enhance crime victim services in the State. Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) assistance funds are, in turn, competitively awarded by the State to local community-based organizations that provide direct services to crime victims.
• $115,753 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to the Maine Department of Public Safety as part of the Anti-Gang Initiative for anti-gang enforcement and prevention efforts under the existing Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Initiative. The State of Maine expects to involve several law enforcement organizations at the federal, state, and local level in the planning and implementation process of its proposed strategy, which will maximize anti-gang training opportunities, establish a formalized district gang-related information sharing mechanism, expand an existing task force to enhance investigative efforts on anti-gang activities, and support existing and future gang-related investigations.
The Office for Victims of Crime aims to enhance the Nation's capacity to assist crime victims and to provide leadership in changing attitudes, policies, and practices to promote justice and healing for all victims of crime. The Crime Victims Fund, established by the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA), is a major funding source for victim services throughout the Nation. Millions of dollars have been deposited into the Fund annually from criminal fines, forfeited bail bonds, penalties, and special assessments collected by U.S. Attorneys' Offices, federal U.S. courts, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. To date, Fund dollars have always come from offenders convicted of federal crimes, not from taxpayers.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is a component of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and provides leadership and services in grant administration and criminal justice policy development to support local, state, and tribal justice strategies to achieve safer communities. BJA's overall goals are to (1) reduce and prevent crime, violence, and drug abuse, and (2) improve the functioning of the criminal justice system