(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today announced that he is awarding $20 million in grants to support more than three dozen community-based intervention programs in their work to prevent violence and support crime victims.

A total of 39 programs will receive funding as part of Governor DeWine's Community Violence Prevention Grant Program. The grants support collaborative approaches by non-profit entities and governmental agencies that partner to reduce community violence.

"This program is the latest step in our holistic approach toward enhanced public safety in Ohio," said Governor DeWine. "From giving our law enforcement officers new tools to fight crime to strengthening community-based initiatives that prevent future violence, we're striving to ensure that our communities have the resources they need to protect and support the public."

Funded projects encompass five broad categories of assistance including community-based violence intervention programs, trauma recovery centers, children's advocacy centers, crisis response programs, and hospital-based violence intervention programs.

Nine community-based violence intervention programs will receive a total of $6,690,001.99 to provide peer and community support to reduce violence and provide resources for those at risk to be involved in violence.

Among the grant recipients, Compass Family and Community Services in Mahoning County will receive $829,809.60 to hire mentors to work with high-risk individuals in Youngstown. Mentors will work to prevent violence by connecting participants and victims to resources and changing the perception of violence from being inevitable to being preventable. 

Additional community-based violence intervention programs receiving funding are: 

City of Cleveland (Cuyahoga): $2,103,871.39 

Community for New Direction (Franklin): $147,881.62 

Halt Violence (Franklin): $282,445.70 

YMCA of Central Ohio (Franklin): $177,829.76 

Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio (Hamilton): $789,741.80 

Lorain County Urban League (Lorain): $657,312.00 

City of Toledo (Lucas): $1,064,143.49

Washington County, Ohio (Washington): $636,966.63 

Twelve trauma recovery centers in Ohio will receive a total of $5,003,196.41 to address the needs of underserved crime victims.

Among the grant recipients, Mercy Recovery Center in Lucas County will receive $231,867.84 to provide survivors with comprehensive services beginning in the emergency room and proceeding through recovery. In addition to helping with basic needs such as food and housing, the center will use funding to help survivors understand their legal rights, assist them in navigating the victim compensation process, and provide them with support to address mental health needs. 

Additional trauma recovery centers receiving funding are: 

Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program of Southeast Ohio (Athens): $559,810.87 

Citilookout Trauma Recovery (Clark): $377,835.09 

Brenda Glass Multipurpose Trauma Center (Cuyahoga): $139,272.87 

MetroHealth System (Cuyahoga): $551,780.86 

Near West Side Multi-Service Corporation (Cuyahoga): $696,414.06

CHOICES for Victims of Domestic Violence, Inc. (Franklin): $527,099.25 

OSU Wexner Medical Center (Franklin): $699,721.21 

SARNCO OhioHealth (Franklin): $828,855.98 

Neighborhood Allies (Hamilton): $84,500.00 

Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses (Hamilton): $217,242.08 

Warren County Community Services (Warren): $88,796.30 

Eleven children’s advocacy centers will receive a total of $4,763,104.75 to offer wraparound services for child victims of violence and their families.

Among the grant recipients, the Canopy Child Advocacy Center in Cuyahoga County will receive $490,457.50 to support the needs of sexually abused children by establishing a Specialized Assistance Team (SAT) of therapists, case coordinators, and family advocates. The SAT will help children and their families navigate the legal and child protective systems by ensuring that appointments are scheduled, questions are answered, interests are represented, and rights are upheld. The team will also support children's mental health needs. 

Additional children's advocacy centers receiving funding are: 

Crime Victim Services (Allen): $147,190.00

Harcum House (Fairfield): $421,118.27 

Ohio Network of Children's Advocacy Centers (Franklin): $2,095,906.07 

The Center for Child and Family Advocacy (Henry): $83,887.50 

Hope's Place Child Advocacy Center (Jackson): $83,913.80 

A Caring Place Child Advocacy Center (Jefferson): $110,410.19 

Children's Advocacy Center of Portage County (Portage): $236,509.80 

Family and Child Abuse Prevention Center (Lucas): $486,784.77 

Isaiah's Place, Child Advocacy Center (Miami): $324,828.85 

Heroes Landing Children's Justice Center of Ohio (Muskingum): $282,098.00 

Three crisis response programs will receive a total of $2,153,304.36 to house civilian-based crisis response teams that support individuals undergoing behavioral crises.

Among the grant recipients, the City of Dayton in Montgomery County will receive $1,480,047.34 to create three crisis response teams that will respond to 911 mental health calls for service. The teams will be comprised of mental health clinicians who will connect individuals in crisis to the proper social services, diverting them away from the criminal justice system when appropriate.

Additional crisis response programs receiving funding are: 

Salem Police Department (Columbiana): $168,742.99 

Crossroads Health (Lake): $504,514.03

Four hospital-based violence intervention programs will receive a total of $1,390,392.49 to focus on reducing retaliatory violence and preventing re-injury by engaging injured victims of violent crime while they are recovering in the hospital.
Among the grant recipients, Women Helping Women in Hamilton County will receive $500,489.11 to expand its 24/7 violence intervention program for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, and sex trafficking in Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, and Hamilton counties. Funding will be used to counteract the escalation of these forms of gender-based violence that resulted after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additional hospital-based violence intervention programs receiving funding are:

Tri-County Help Centers (Belmont): $42,600.00

University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (Cuyahoga): $447,919.36

Rape Crisis Center (Summit): $399,384.02

The Community Violence Prevention Grant Program is funded as part of the $250 million in ARPA funds that Governor DeWine and the Ohio General Assembly dedicated to counter various pressing issues exacerbated by the pandemic, including increased crime rates. The program is administered by the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services, a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

The program is one of several new programs developed by Governor DeWine as part of his administration's comprehensive approach toward protecting the public and preventing violence. Other initiatives include the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center, Ohio School Safety Center, Ohio Office of Law Enforcement Recruitment, Ohio Office of First Responder Wellness, Ohio Violent Crime Reduction Grant Program, Ohio Prisoner Extradition Reimbursement Program, Ohio Body-Worn Camera Program, Ohio Ballistics Testing Initiative, Ohio Crime Lab Efficiency Program, Ohio First Responder Recruitment, Retention, and Resilience Program, Ohio Court Backlog Reduction Program, Community Violence Prevention Grant Program, and the new eWarrant database.