Public safety groups face an uncertain future months after federal grant cuts

""These cuts are significant and unprecedented," says Amy Solomon, a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice and former head of the DOJ's Office of Justice Programs, the office responsible for the cuts. "When an administration gives a grant to an organization, that is a promise for the full amount. And so organizations plan, they budget, they hire," she says. Instead, the DOJ cancelled these grants in the middle of their cycle."

"At Washington Technology High School in St. Paul, Minn., Principal Elias Oguz was shocked when a grant-funded position at his school was suddenly cut last spring. "This was named the 'Stop The Violence' grant," he says. "Who would want to cut the 'Stop The Violence' grant?" The money had allowed him to hire Robyn Strowder as a restorative practices coordinator, to resolve conflicts between students and build community at the school."

"NPR spoke with 10 affected organizations to see how they've fared. A few said their grants were reactivated, but most said they have had to lay off employees, dip into reserve funds, or shrink the services they offer. "It was very nerve wracking," Strowder says. "There was definitely a time that I was like, 'Hey, I have a whole family to provide for and I'm not sure if I have a job.'""

More than $800 million in federal grants for community-safety initiatives were cancelled, affecting hundreds of organizations nationwide. Programs impacted included school violence prevention, rural police training, domestic-violence victim resources and hate-crime prevention. Some grants were later reactivated, but most recipients reported layoffs, use of reserve funds, or reduced services. Officials characterized the cancellations as unprecedented and emphasized that awarded grants function as promised funding, which organizations rely on for budgeting and hiring. At one St. Paul high school, a grant-funded restorative-practices coordinator position was suddenly cut, prompting the principal to put $50,000 toward the role.

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