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Trump cuts millions in California crime -preventive scholarships: “This was a default hammer” | Lost coastal items



Joseph Griffin, Executive Director of Youth Alive! Photo by Florence Middleton for rest

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This story was originally published by Calmatters. Register for your newsletter.

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Dozens of California violence prevention and sacrificial service programs, including those to protect survivors from domestic violence and end sexual abuse in prisons and prisons, are exposed to devastating cuts after the Trump government has abolished the financing from them.

“These programs literally save lives – not only for the victims, but for all of our communities,” said Tinisch Hollins, managing director of the non -profit organization Californian for security and justice. “If you disappear, we lose a safety net.”

The US Ministry of Justice recorded grants last week that were originally worth 811 million. In California alone, the department shortened a little more than 80 million US dollars, most of which were based for groups in Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco.

The organizations may have already issued some of the grant financing that normally last three years, and it is unclear how much the administration has withdrawn. You have 30 days to make an appeal against the decision. The US Ministry of Justice did not respond to repeated attempts to confirm the list of affected grants in California.

In a statement on Calmatters, the spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, Gates McGavick: “Under the leadership of General Prosecutor (PAM) Bondi, the Ministry of Justice is obliged to ensure that his resources for the arrest of criminal, drugs and legitimal initiatives protect the legitimal initiatives that can protect legitimal initiatives but longer.

The California civil servants rejected the characterization of the grants by the Trump government and described the programs as critical.

“The Trump administration ruthlessly ignores the security of the people they are sworn to serve,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta in a statement to Calmatters. “These resources are not an optional luxury, they are essential and crucial to ensure the security and stability of our communities nationwide. My office will do everything in our power to stop the potentially fatal consequences of freezing federal financing.”

Representatives of three organizations who have lost money said Curmatters said that they had undertaken to continue their programs, and they emphasized that they offered people in need of protection.

The non -profit organization of youth lives alive in Oakland! lost his grant of $ 2 million to support the country's first hospital violum intervention program. The organization employees appear in the hospital bed of the young people who were violently injured to help them control their recovery and prevent retaliation.

Through continuous support such as mental health and housing services, the organization claims that it can break cycles of violence. Last year it served 113 customers, only one of whom was injured again.

“It is an essential part of the ecosystem because they have to be in certain places to suppress violence and help people,” said Dr. Joseph Griffin, Managing Director of Youth Alive! “It's about increasing the health of the community.”

When he learned that the organization had lost its financing, he said that he was incredulously.

“It is not an influence that we can easily absorb,” he said. “It is never easy to replace 2 million US dollars.”

A banner hangs on a wall in the youthless office in Oakland on April 28, 2025. The youth alive! The goal is to break the circulation of violence in Oakland, one of the many California organizations that are affected after the US Ministry of Justice has ended more than $ 800 million in grants for judicial organizations. Photo by Florence Middleton for rest

Elsewhere in Oakland, the Justice organization has affected that the funds of 8.5 million US dollars lost to scholarships.

“This was a shelter,” said Alex Busansky, his founder and president.

The organization received a grant of 4 million US dollars to expand the opportunities for re -entry accommodation for people who return home from prison. In addition, it received three grants of a total of 4.5 million US dollars to support its work in the elimination of sexual abuse and sexual damage from narrow facilities such as prisons and prisons.

“To take this away, the most endangered people brings into a much riskier and potentially harmful situation,” said Busansky.

Asian Women's Shelter, one of three domestic violence in San Francisco, lost his grant of 500,000 US dollars to support the Arabic survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking by connecting them with legal and social services.

The competition grant had only been awarded to five organizations last year, according to the communication and community engagement specialist from the Asian Women's Shelter, Saara Ahmed.

“The irony is that the reasons of the Ministry of Justice are that they shift the funds against the law enforcement authorities to combat violent crimes and trade. But violent crimes and human trafficking concern the survivors, so there is a lot of contradiction,” said Ahmed. “It's about asking: Whose security do you prioritize?”

On April 25, over 600 local, state and national organizations, including the Asian women's home, signed a letter to the Attorney General Bondi, which expressed “deep concern” about the Federal Ministry of Justice, including the canceled grants.

“This long -term engagement for the support of services and prevention efforts for victims of [domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and trafficking] remains strong; However, the recent actions in the department have left these critical life -saving programs unsafe about their ability to continue to serve victims, ”wrote lawyers.

The San Francisco public prosecutor also lost a subsidy. “It is heartbreaking to see that the funds for such a critical work have decreased,” said Brooke Jenkins, district prosecutor of San Francisco, whose scholarship supported young people and young adults from underground communities.

“Public security essentially is less victims of crime. And as a government we cannot simply be reactionary,” she said. “We have to do the front -end and the proactive work so that people do not have the need to primarily get involved in crime.”

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Cayla Mihalovich is a local news colleague in California.

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