The city of Grand Forks is one of eight communities nationwide to receive a federal grant to help protect children from violence.
Grand Forks was awarded a $160,000 planning grant today as part of the U.S. Department of Justice's Defending Childhood initiative. The grant is for Phase I of the project, federal officials said. Communities will use the funds to conduct comprehensive needs and resources assessments and to create development plans to curb children's exposure to violence. Four of the eight communities will receive funding to implement those plans in Phase II, federal officials said.
Grand Forks Mayor Mike Brown praised the work of the Community Violence Intervention Center and Lutheran Social Services, who worked with the city to secure the grant.
"(The grant) goes along with our emphasis on the quality of life for our residents, and the quality of life of our children," Brown said. "It is a long-term investment. It is great to have all of these people investing their time and energy to make this a great place for children."
While several community needs assessments have been done by various agencies, this will be the first specifically tailored toward children and their exposure to violence, said Kristi Hall-Jiran, CVIC executive director.
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The communities will develop strategic plans to address children up to 17 who are exposed to violence, including physical and sexual abuse, dating violence, sexual assault, bullying, witnessing domestic violence and stalking/cyber-stalking, federal officials said. The plans also will address violence prevention, intervention, treatment and system-wide responses.
Hall-Jiran said part of the grant will go toward hiring a staff person among the various agencies to gather existing data relating to children and violence, and collect data that's not there, as wells as work with community partners on the assessment. Hall-Jiran said the works should begin within the next month.
The other demonstration communities, and their grant amounts, selected today:
- City of Boston ($160,000).
- City of Portland, Maine ($160,000).
- Chippewa Cree Tribe, Montana ($153,210).
- Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, Ohio ($157,873).
- Multnomah County Department of Human Services, Oregon. ($159,349).
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- Rosebud Sioux Tribe, South Dakota ($159,534).
- Shelby County, Tennessee. ($159,099).
Reach Cory at (701) 780-1244; (800) 477-6572, ext. 244; or send e-mail to mcory@gfherald.com .
