Trump cuts hit Michigan violence prevention programs: ‘This will cost lives’

• Michigan nonprofits lost a combined $4.5 million in remaining grant funding from recent cuts to Department of Justice
• Community violence intervention programs aimed at curbing gun violence through one-on-one outreach hardest hit in Michigan
• Other cuts include technical support to substance abuse programs, hate crime prevention and arts programs for kids in the justice system

Nonprofits working to combat gun violence in Detroit and Lansing with on-the-ground community outreach abruptly lost a combined $3 million in federal funding last month — a decision advocates say could jeopardize progress and cost lives in vulnerable communities. 

The grant terminations were part of nationwide cuts to the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump, whose administration is moving to rapidly shrink the federal budget by eliminating what federal officials contend is wasteful spending. 

Hardest hit in Michigan were community violence intervention initiatives like FORCE Detroit, a nonprofit that supports at-risk youth and offers workforce development and other support to people impacted by violence. Last year, the city of Detroit credited FORCE and other anti-violence community groups for assisting with historic reductions in citywide violent crime.

The organization was awarded $2 million last fall to sustain its work through 2027. In late April, they learned by email that they’d lost almost all of that funding, said Dujuan “Zoe” Kennedy, FORCE Detroit’s executive director. 

“What’s so frustrating to me is … we have data to prove it — we have proof that this saves life and money,” he said. “We are not a priority. Our life, or the people in my community's life, is not a priority.”

In the Lansing area, Paul Elam of the Michigan Public Health Institute was hoping to bring the successes seen by Advance Peace Lansing, a program providing daily mentoring to people likely to be either perpetrators or victims of gun violence, to other communities around the country.

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The $1 million research grant to get that project off the ground was also terminated this spring, as was the remaining $11,000 of an older $1 million grant funding the program’s implementation. Elam fears the DOJ may soon come for a separate $2 million grant — still intact for now — that funds on-the-ground work in Lansing. 

“Our goal is to get people to stop shooting people — not just to do what you think is right, but to do what we know works,” Elam said. If nationwide cuts to community violence intervention programs stand, he said, “this decision will cost lives.” 

Many law enforcement groups say it’s still too early to tell what the Trump administration’s actions on criminal justice might mean for Michigan. 

Daniel Pfannes, deputy director of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association, said the changes could ultimately come down to the federal government shifting its priorities on various crime-fighting initiatives.

“I don't know that there's going to necessarily be an elimination of the monies, per se — there may be a restructuring as to how they're accessible,” he said. “Until we see that final iteration, I don't think we're in a position to advance a judgment on it.” 

But Trump critics, including Attorney General Dana Nessel, view the latest cuts to the Department of Justice as a threat to public safety.  

“If massive cuts to these DOJ programs is not defunding the police, I don't know what is,” Nessel told Bridge Michigan. “And I have grave concerns, significant concerns about what this is going to look like for so many DOJ-funded programs that we rely on.”

The latest cuts

Nationally, 373 grants with remaining values of about $500 million were terminated, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. Recipients were told the work “no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.” 

In a social media post, US Attorney General Pam Bondi championed the cancellation of what she deemed “wasteful grants” in the Department of Justice, promising “more to come” while highlighting savings from a handful of specific grants involving LGBTQ individuals and listening sessions.

Since the pandemic, the federal deficit has doubled to nearly $1.8 trillion. 

The federal debt has grown 121% since 2015, and interest payments alone on it cost $881 billion this fiscal year — more than the government spends on veterans or children. By 2034, interest costs could consume 20% of federal revenue, according to a US House analysis.

In Michigan, community violence intervention grants weren’t the only projects on the chopping block, with federal officials cutting roughly $4.5 million remaining of grants initially valued at $6.8 million.

Among the grants canceled: The remainder of a $2.5 million grant to Novi-based nonprofit research organization Altarum, which was awarded funding for training and technical assistance to substance abuse recovery programs, including highly addictive opioids. 

Other cancellations include awards to the Grand Rapids-based Migrant Legal Aid, which was initially awarded nearly $275,000 for work in hate crime prevention, and Youth Arts: Unlocked, a Flint nonprofit that hosts art and theater workshops for youth involved in the justice system.

About $3,000 was left from Youth Arts: Unlocked’s $50,000 DOJ grant, said Ann Kita, the group’s executive director. But coupled with the loss of a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and another $25,000 grant in limbo, Kita said up to half the organization’s budget could be slashed.

“We are in current discussion now on how we're going to navigate and maintain these services to these kids,” Kita said, noting the group is actively exploring new fundraising options. “We are threatened … Every day, unfortunately, gets a little bit worse for the news that I receive.” 

‘Up in the air’

While the latest cuts didn’t touch federal grants awarded to Michigan law enforcement, several observers told Bridge that agencies are in a holding pattern, waiting to see if additional cuts impacting their operations are coming. 

Some of the funding included in the DOJ cuts went to national organizations offering best-practice training, data analysis, technical assistance and other resources to local courts and law enforcement agencies, which advocates claim will undermine crucial crime-fighting efforts and reduce efficiency. 

The National Criminal Justice Association, a nonprofit policy group supporting criminal justice agencies in Michigan and other states, said in a recent statement that the grant funding it lost “supported efforts to identify, prevent and respond to pressing crime prevention needs” across the country. The organization plans to appeal the cuts. 

Michigan state and local agencies received more than $5.8 million in federal justice assistance grants in fiscal year 2024, supporting initiatives like victim services, legal counsel for indigent clients, community relations, behavioral treatment programs, drug courts and narcotics task forces.

So far, those grants remain intact, Michigan State Police spokesperson Lori Dougovito told Bridge Michigan, but she said agencies may feel the loss of training and technical assistance. 

“The Michigan State Police is impacted by the removal of this funding but is able to administer and implement its grant funded programs,” she said. 

Jordan Gulkis, public information officer for the Lansing Police Department, said none of the agency’s current grants were directly affected, but the future is unknown: “Everything is just kind of up in the air.”

Even if every Michigan agency keeps their existing funding, Nessel said the vast network of agency partnerships are what makes the system work. If partner organizations lose their funding for critical work like providing victim services or tracking organized crime, “oftentimes it means we’re not even going to be able to prosecute those cases,” Nessel said. 

Trump has long promised additional investment for law enforcement, telling supporters at Michigan campaign stops last year that his administration would make “a record investment” in police hiring, retention and training and “give our police the support, protection, resources and respect they deserve.” 

On April 28, Trump signed an executive order aimed at “strengthening and unleashing” law enforcement, promising more training and pay for police officers, additional equipment and resources for local agencies, tougher penalties for crimes against police and legal help for officers accused of misconduct. 

Pfannes, of the Michigan Sheriffs' Association, said it’s still hard to tell what that order means for law enforcement, as nothing in the order has been officially implemented.

“It's still in more of what I call the philosophical stage, as opposed to the operational stage,” he said. 

What happens now

Several groups impacted by the funding losses are actively appealing the grant terminations while also exploring other options. 

Kennedy, of FORCE Detroit, said the group is also advocating for state-level legislation that would fund local law enforcement agencies and community violence intervention groups around the state, a version of which passed the Republican-led state House in April. 

“It's important for us to be advocating on every level of government,” he said. “Once leadership changes, then something just can be taken from the community. And this is a result of not having things in legislation, not in writing.” 

Elam, of the Michigan Public Health Institute, said his organization is pushing the Trump administration to explain their thinking and rationale. If the intent is to align grants with the new administration’s priorities and goals, organizations doing the work should have the chance to weigh in.

“We understand that maybe this administration doesn't want to support…a Biden administration initiative,” he said. “Well, what do you want to support? Talk to us about what that is.”

“But just to cut the funding across the board, across the country, with no conversation, no interaction with folks who've been on the ground doing this work for years, is not something we would be recommending.”