On March 13, 2023, the Department of Justice held the Fiscal Year 2024 President’s Budget Rollout Stakeholders Briefing. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta delivered the opening remarks. Jolene Lauria, the Deputy Assistant Attorney General, summarized the budget allocated to the DOJ. The DOJ will have $5 billion to allocate towards state and local assistance and will be able to expand its Executive Office of Immigration Review, hiring nearly 400 new staff. $939 million will go towards protecting vulnerable communities, $91 million for ensuring economic opportunities and fairness, $2.8 billion to hire police combatting violent crime, and $1 billion to prevent violence against women and legal assistance to victims.
Allison Randall, Director of the Office of Violence Against Women, stipulated that the legal assistance for victims will increase assistance to youth victims. Another $95 million will go towards transitional housing and rental assistance for victims. VAW received $10 million for its Underserved Populations Program, which provides outreach of youth victims of domestic and sexual assault in underserved communities. Funding will also be allocated to the Tribal Governments Program, whose grantees provide 2,700 children of survivors with advocacy, counseling, and crisis intervention.
Hugh Clements from the COPS Office announced that $53 million will be allocated to the School Violence Prevention Program for grants to state, local and tribal schools to improve their campus security. Amy Solomon from the Office of Justice Programs announced these budget priorities: transform the juvenile justice system into one that is effective and equitable; treat children as children; and empower children to live productive lives. Solomon announced $760 million towards juvenile justice, with the goal of prevention. $151 million is earmarked for the Delinquency Prevention Program. $50 million will go towards the establishment of a new program dedicated to finding alternatives to youth incarceration. $130 million will be for the Missing and Exploited Children Portfolio. Lastly, $30 million is for a new juvenile justice and child welfare collaboration to address the needs of youth in both systems.
By Yonathan Gonzalez Villatoro, Policy Intern, Pizzigati Fellow
