On Tuesday night, the Trump administration abruptly terminated grants to hundreds of crime prevention and violence interruption programs, including at least three in Baltimore City. Those grants were already halfway through their three-year lifespan.
LifeBridge Health, the Living Classrooms Foundation and Roca all lost grants related to gun violence intervention.
Adam Rosenberg runs the LifeBridge Health Center for Hope and received a 5 p.m. email from the Justice Department’s Office of Justice Programs notifying him of the immediate termination of $1.2 million in their remaining Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative grant.
Among many facets, the grant to LifeBridge supported therapy groups for individuals impacted by gun violence as part of Baltimore’s Community Violence Intervention Ecosystem. It impacts the salaries of seven people, said Rosenberg.
“What shocked me the most, though, was what feels like the utter cruelty of it,” said Rosenberg. “We got notice that programs were to cease immediately, and we have people who rely on these programs, people who are paid to administer these programs, and clients who benefit from these programs.”
Late Tuesday night, The Washington Post first reported that the hundreds of ongoing grants funding everything ranging from mental healthcare for police officers to wrap-around programs supporting victims of crime and sexual assault were canceled.
At least 365 grants were terminated, according to Reuters. Grantees were told they have a 30-day window to appeal the decision.
In an email sent to grantees by Maureen Henneberg, the acting head of the Office of Justice Programs, which oversees the Justice Department grant program, grantees were told their awards were being terminated because “it no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.” The email went on to say that the department would instead focus on discretionary grant funding to more directly support “certain law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, protecting American children, and supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault, and better coordinating law enforcement efforts at all levels of government.”
LifeBridge operates six of the city’s 10 Safe Streets sites which utilize community members to intervene in a conflict before the shooting starts. While the funding for the Safe Streets workers and sites themselves comes from Baltimore City, Rosenberg explains that a lot of the work to support those operations is funded elsewhere. That can include therapeutic groups and violence mediation outside of the Safe Streets catchment zones. In this case that came from federal grants.
“I really fear that as we're making this incredible progress here as a nation — turning down the number of people who have been impacted by gun violence and homicide — we're about to see a horrific reversal of that trend,” said Rosenberg.
Baltimore has seen historic homicide reductions over the last two years as it has expanded its reach of community violence prevention programs. The city saw a 23% decrease in homicides in 2024 on top of a 20% reduction in 2023. Non-fatal shootings also dropped by 34% in 2024 and so far, in 2025, the city is on pace to see similar reductions.
"For all their lip service about public safety, the Trump administration doesn't give a damn about it," said Mayor Brandon Scott in a statement. "They said they support law enforcement but they're defunding programs to support public safety officers and pardoned rioters."
Scott warned that the decision could threaten the city's homicide and non-fatal reduction efforts.
“Under Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, the Department of Justice is committed to ensuring its resources are spent on arresting criminals, getting drugs off the streets, and crucial litigation. We will always protect victims of crime and legitimate law enforcement initiatives, but we will no longer spend millions on ‘listening sessions’ and ‘bridging socio-ecological contexts’," wrote Gates McGavick, a DOJ spokesperson, in an emailed statement to WYPR.
Living Classrooms Foundation, also part of the Community Violence Intervention Ecosystem, had a $1M grant terminated for Operation Respond. Through that program, the organization runs a retrofitted RV with a medical team and peer navigators.
“We have navigators from the community who work with community members, and they're embedded in the community and understand the needs of community members,” said James Bond, the President and CEO of Living Classrooms Foundation. “Instead of asking someone to go to some center or some other facility, we bring it right to folks in the neighborhood, and it's been very, very successful.”
Bond says they have helped some 67 individuals and their families that have been directly impacted by gun violence in East Baltimore. The grant impacts the salaries of 9 or 10 individuals, he said.
“We're able to keep things going for a very short time period,” said Bond while noting that they are looking to come up with alternative funding options.
Roca in Baltimore was also impacted. Kurtis Palermo, the executive Vice President for the organization’s operations in Maryland, told WYPR that they have lost around $1M for their operations helping non-fatal shooting victims in the Baltimore area.
Rosenberg said LifeBridge will be appealing the decision. For now, they will try to keep operations running but for how long and as to what happens next, he can’t say.
“What I'm also afraid of, and being a realist about, is there are more cuts to come,” said Rosenberg.
This story has been updated with comments from Mayor Scott and the Department of Justice.
