Today, Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL) announced 9 separate grants totaling $7,432,202 awarded by the Department of Justice to entities within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Pinellas County justice system.
"These grants will help make our communities safer, providing resources for crime diversion programs, ex-offender re-entry services, Safe Neighborhood initiatives to combat increased gun and gang violence, and forensic analysis to alleviate backlogs facing our law enforcement professionals in Pinellas and throughout Florida,”
said Crist. "To ensure our criminal justice system works the way it should, we need to provide greater investment in diversion and rehabilitation programs, as well as efforts to secure justice for crime victims and their families."
The grant award details and amounts are as follows:
- $1,311,637 to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for forensic DNA analysis backlog reduction at regional crime laboratories and county laboratories
- $3,098,293 to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s statewide forensic crime laboratory system for forensic DNA analysis backlog reduction
- $250,000 to Pinellas County Forensic Laboratory to address a backlog of toxicology analysis
- $288,450 to Pinellas County Forensic Laboratory for forensic DNA analysis backlog reduction
- $900,000 to Goodwill Industries-Suncoast for returning citizen job training and employment assistance
- $549,826 to Pinellas County to create a Mental Health Court addressing the frequent jailing of residents with serious mental health disorders by diverting them away from the criminal justice system and into community-based treatment
- $1,033,996 distributed between the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Florida to bolster Florida's Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is aimed at reducing violent crime, including gun crime and gang violence
Through his position on the House Appropriations Committee; including the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee; Congressman Crist secured funding for these grant programs in Fiscal Year 2021, including:
- $35 million for the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program;
- $110 million for the DNA Capacity Enhancement for Backlog Reduction (CEBR) Program;
- $100 million for the Second Chance Act Adult Reentry Education, Employment, Treatment, and Recovery Program;
- $33 million for the Paul Coverdell Forensic Science Improvement Grants Program; and $20 million for Project Safe Neighborhoods grants.
Go Crist.