As former deputy associate attorney general, you gained a lot of experience working with tribal communities. What was that like?

The country has come a long way, and we’re facing a lot of challenges as a nation to achieve equal treatment for everyone. For the first Americans, that continues to be a challenge and continues to be important. . . .There’s a big gap in how Native American and Alaska natives experience the criminal justice system.

A significant number of Native American women have been victims of or have been exposed to sexual assault. That served as a foundation for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and its additional protections. One of the things we can do through our programs is to provide resources that address the full spectrum of issues, including law enforcement, juvenile justice, victims services and sexual-assault nurse examination training. We put a lot of focus on how to combine resources across all grant programs for how we can address these issues on a holistic and systemic basis.

What did you do specifically?

What we did under Attorney General Holder was to consolidate tribal-specific grant programs under one specific solicitation. In the past, we had multiple grant programs and funding streams, and tribes would have to apply separately for each grant program. In response to the tribes’ request for more flexible funding to address their criminal justice needs, the department decided to make it easier for tribal government to apply for grants by putting them under one umbrella called the Combined Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS).