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# Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $6 Million in New Grants to Address Community Violence and its Impacts on Student Mental Health

# Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $6 Million in New Grants to Address Community Violence and its Impacts on Student Mental Health

January 11, 2024

**Contact:  **press@ed.gov

                                    -        
Today,  Vice President Kamala Harris announced $6.4 million from the U.S. Department of  Education (Department) to address community violence. The funding is being  awarded to seven school districts across the country as part of the Project  Prevent grant program. The Vice President will make the announcement in  Charlotte, North Carolina, where she will be joined by U.S. Secretary of  Education Miguel Cardona to highlight the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts  to reduce gun violence and expand access to mental health services for  students.

“Every  child deserves the freedom to live safe from gun violence in their school and  throughout their community. President Biden and I are committed to protecting  this freedom and continuing to address an epidemic of gun violence that has  become the leading cause of death for children across America,” said Vice  President Harris. “With today’s announcement, we are reaffirming our  Administration’s dedication to preventing this senseless violence and keeping  our children, families, and communities safe. As we call on Congress to pass  commonsense gun safety policies, we are proud to fund proven solutions like  those supported by Project Prevent that help schools increase access to mental  health and other resources for their students.”

“The  youth mental health crisis and the devastating impact of gun violence on our  communities have been mounting for years, but thanks to President Biden’s  leadership, we are making historic investments that will reshape how our  schools care for students and provide the safe learning environments they need  to grow and succeed,” said Secretary Cardona. “Today’s announcement of another  $6.4 million in Project Prevent funding complements the Biden-Harris  Administration’s unprecedented $2 billion investment secured through the Bipartisan  Safer Communities Act to transform school-based mental health and create safer  and more positive school climates. These  investments mean that schools and communities will have more resources for the  interventions that help keep students safe and healthy. The fact is, we cannot recover academically and Raise the Bar for  education in this country unless we meet the needs of the whole child, and that  starts with creating safe, welcoming schools where teaching and learning can  truly thrive.”

Project  Prevent grants help build the capacity of local educational agencies (LEAs)  that have been impacted by community violence to expand their capacity to  implement community- and school-based strategies to prevent and mitigate the  impacts of community violence, and to address the impacts of exposure to  community violence. For fiscal year 2024, seven new grants, totaling  approximately $6.4 million, will focus on building connections between schools  and community-based organizations to provide students with the resources to  help break cycles of violence and trauma, including through the use of mental  health services and supports.

These  awards will allow school districts to identify and serve students exposed to  community violence by helping them increase student access to mental health  services, support conflict management programs, and implement other community-  and school-based strategies to help prevent community violence and to mitigate  the impacts of exposure to community violence.

This  announcement is the latest step that the Biden-Harris Administration has taken  as part of its ongoing commitment to prevent and reduce the impact that  community violence has in many of our country’s school communities. These  grants also support the Administration’s goal of transforming how we address  mental health in America, which is a core pillar in the Biden-Harris  Administration’s Unity Agenda for our nation. The historic Bipartisan Safer  Communities Act has delivered unprecedented resources to support youth mental  health, including for students impacted by gun violence.

The new Project Prevent awardees  are listed below:

 

**Grantee**

**State**

**Award Amount**

Savannah-Chatham County Public School System

GA

$1,013,113

Osage County Interlocal Cooperative

OK

$759,624

Buffalo City School District

NY

$1,013,113

Tahlequah Public Schools

OK

$954,196

Mastery    Charter Schools

PA

$698,584

Norfolk    Public Schools

VA

$949,264

Educational    Service District 105

WA

$1,012,267

Total

 

$6,400,161
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