Justice Department allocates $35.7 million in grants to support sexual assault victims

• The Justice Department allocated $35.7 million in grants for victims of sexual assault.
• The agency issued a total of 56 grant awards — one for each state, DC, and five US territories.

The Department of Justice is allocating $35.7 million in grants for victims of sexual assault.

The agency announced on Friday that the Office on Violence Against Women will issue 56 grant awards — one for each state, DC, and five US territories.

"For nearly two decades, the Justice Department's Sexual Assault Services Program has demonstrated our commitment to providing comprehensive support to survivors of sexual assault," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

"This grant funding will go directly toward strengthening the efforts of agencies and organizations across the country to provide critical services and care that survivors need and deserve," Garland added.

The Sexual Assault Services Formula Grant Program (SASP) is the first federal fund dedicated solely to "direct intervention and related assistance to victims of sexual assault," according to the DOJ.

Allison Randall, acting director of the Office on Violence Against Women, said the funds will help survivors access a variety of services, including medical care, counseling, and crisis intervention.

"Over the next year, this SASP grant funding will help tens of thousands of survivors of sexual violence access essential services," Randall said in the DOJ statement. "I am so grateful to the direct service providers who ensure these services are available to survivors and provide trauma-informed care on a daily basis."

SASP funding is distributed according to a "statutorily determined, population-based formula" to states and territories, who then distribute the funds to crisis centers and non-profit organizations, according to the DOJ.

The $35.7 million grant sum appears to be the largest in SASP's history, which dates back to 2005. The annual allocations have increased over time, with the 2021 grants totaling about $28.2 million, which was the largest at the time.