$2.6 Million in Support for Survivors of Violence in Indian Country Secured by Tester

Resources will benefit Fort Peck Assiniboine & Sioux, Chippewa Cree, Northern Cheyenne, and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

(Big Sandy, Mont.) – As part of his ongoing efforts to improve safety and support survivors of violence across Indian Country, U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced more than $2.6 million in victims services grants to tribes across Montana.

The grants will fund additional awareness and outreach programs, help improve case management, and support culturally-appropriate services to help victims of violence and their families.

“Folks in Indian Country face a higher rate of violence, and we’ve got to do more to help stamp it out,” Tester said. “These grants will help provide survivors with resources to get the help they need, while empowering native communities to reduce the scourge of violence that’s far too common.”

The grants, administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, come from the Tribal Victim Services Set-Aside Program, which Tester helped fund as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this year.

The grants awarded are as follows:

• Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes – $618,443
• Chippewa Cree Tribe – $518,076
• Northern Cheyenne Tribe – $779,225
• Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes – $720,000

As a senior member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Tester has made it his mission to improve safety across Indian Country and combat the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis.

He recently introduced the Not Invisible Act to help streamline tribal and federal efforts to combat the MMIW crisis, and his Studying the Missing and Murdered Indian Crisis Act recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act.

Tester also recently reintroduced two landmark pieces of legislation aimed at combatting the MMIW crisis. Savanna’s Act would improve information sharing between tribes and federal law enforcement agencies and increase data collection on missing persons in Indian Country, and the SURVIVE Act would give tribes permanent access to resources that help support survivors of sexual and domestic violence.

More information on Tester’s work to promote safety in Indian Country is available HERE.