NEW YORK, NY – The Vera Institute of Justice (VERA), a 64-year-old national justice reform organization, said this week it has received a “notice of termination from the Department of Justice regarding five critical grants, totaling approximately $5 million…effective immediately.”
VERA added, “The Department of Justice’s justification for the funding termination is that Vera’s work ‘no longer effectuate(s) the program goals or agency priorities.’”
Vera continued, “The programs and services endangered by these funding cuts include: Helping correctional staff across the country improve prison operations, training…Expanding access to counseling and treatment for people in mental health crisis…and supporting police and law enforcement to better serve deaf survivors of domestic violence.”
Nick Turner, President and Director of the Vera Institute of Justice, in response to the cuts, argued the work VERA does is “essential for more safety and justice,” and “above partisan politics.”
VERA, in its statement, said Turner further noted in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking reversal of the decision, that of the dozens of peer organizations that receive federal funding from the Department of Justice, VERA is the only one known to have had its grants terminated so abruptly, given the “Department’s grant budget of almost $6 billion.”
VERA added that “trimming waste” is not an “an acceptable justification,” Turner noting, “This leads us to believe that we are being targeted for our public opposition to President Trump’s mass deportation agenda and his gutting of federal funds for mental health and drug treatment, among other actions.”
VERA’s Turner emphasized his group’s “work will continue as the organization pursues a formal appeal,” noting VERA’s commitment “to these programs,” and will to “continue the work with our community partners and leaders in the corrections, law enforcement, and public health fields.”
