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- By Native News Online Staff
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who is serving in his third term in the U.S. Senate, announced this week he secured $7,338,490 in funding to improve public safety, bolster drug treatment courts, and support crime victim services for Native American tribes in Montana.
As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester secured this funding as part of the 2024 government funding package.
Funding comes from the Department of Justice, including the Crime Victims Fund (CVF) Tribal Victim Services Set-Aside grant program.
Tester has paid attention to the need for more funding for public safety and support for crime victim services on tribal lands in Montana and throughout Indian Country. His efforts will improve public safety and support survivors in Indian Country.
“Native American women and girls deserve to feel safe in their communities—and Tribal law enforcement and crime victim services are critically important pieces of the fight,” said Tester. “I’m proud to have secured this funding to ensure Tribes in Montana have the necessary tools to hold criminals accountable and help victims recover, and I’ll keep working to support law enforcement and survivors alike.”
The funding will be allocated as follows:
- $550,000 for Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes from the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program
- $633,245 for Crow Tribe
- $282,632 from the Tribal Set-Aside to combat violence and provide victim services
- $350,613 in Adam Walsh Act grants to protect children, retain personnel, and train officers
- $715,724 for Blackfeet Tribe
- $315,724 from the Tribal Set-Aside to combat violence and provide victim services
- $400,000 in Adam Walsh Act grants to protect children, retain personnel, and train officers
- $690,628 for Fort Belknap Indian Community
- $254,413 from the Tribal Set-Aside to combat violence and provide victim services
- $436,215 for Tribal Youth Intervention Program
- $1,432,434 for Northern Cheyenne Tribe
- $282,632 from the Tribal Set-Aside to combat violence and provide victim services
- $250,000 in Adam Walsh Act grants to protect children, retain personnel, and train officers
- $899,802 for Northern Cheyenne Tribe Restorative Justice Program
- $1,466,558 for Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes from the Tribal Set-Aside
- $254,413 from the Tribal Set-Aside
- $400,000 for Fort Peck Tribes Juvenile Healing to Wellness Court
- $812,145 for Fort Peck Tribes Tribal Access Program
- $1,849,901 for Chippewa-Cree Tribe
- $229,973 from the Tribal Set-Aside to combat violence and provide victim services
- $748,769 for Rocky Boy for Family Drug Treatment Court Program
- $334,896 for Rocky Boy in Adam Walsh Act grants to protect children, retain personnel, and train officers
- $400,000 for Youth Healing to Wellness Court Program
- $136,263 for Chippewa-Cree Pathways to Justice Project
As the former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Tester has consistently fought to provide Tribal governments and organizations with the resources they need to reduce crime and tackle the MMIP epidemic.
In March, Tester urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to use full force of the Department of Justice to combat the growing cartel presence and fentanyl trafficking in Tribal communities. He led the Senate passage of Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act, both of which were signed into law in October of 2020, improving information sharing and collaboration between Tribal and federal law enforcement agencies. Tester also recently secured $600 million to improve public safety in Indian Country as part of the 2024 government funding bill.
In May, Tester led a bipartisan letter to his colleagues, urging them to support robust funding for Tribal law enforcement in upcoming appropriations.
Tester has also been a champion for federal resources to prevent and respond to domestic violence, including funding for law enforcement, the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), and the CVF Tribal Set-Aside. After noticing a considerable diminishing balance in the CVF, Tester also crafted and passed the VOCA Fix to Sustain the Crime Victims Fund Act to increase deposits and maintain the solvency of the CVF by allowing fines from non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements to be deposited in the Fund, and he recently secured $1.9 billion for the CVF as part of the Senate’s 2025 government funding bill. The funding bill includes $95 million for the Tribal Set-Aside.
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