The Justice Department has announced that they’re awarding $57 million in grants towards causes that advance justice reform and racial equality in the criminal justice system.

Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said of the investment, “Equal justice is not a self-executing proposition — it takes work to make it real — and it will take a collective commitment from all of us at the federal, state, and local levels to bring that idea to life. These investments make good on a pledge by the Justice Department to promote public safety and realize the promise of a just society that recognizes the dignity and humanity of everyone.”

The goal is for the funding to “support efforts at the state, territory, local and Tribal levels to institute more effective and equitable criminal justice policies and practices.”

It’s part of a Biden administration push to tackle “public safety” issues plaguing the country.

The grants will advance the DOJ’s “goal to promote fairness in the nation’s courts and corrections systems and align criminal justice practices with the latest science.”

Critics call it a public relations gesture with no meaningful path forward, but advocates say it’s an important start.