DOJ Awards $85.3 Million in Grants to Prevent School Violence
This year, the Department of Justice awarded grants to 215 schools, districts and municipalities through four funding opportunities.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday it has awarded more than $85.3 million in school safety and security grants.
“These federal resources will help to prevent school violence and give our students the support they need to learn, grow, and thrive,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “By training faculty, students and first responders, and by improving school security measures, we can make schools and their communities safer.”
The 2018 STOP School Violence Act authorized the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to create a series of grant award programs, according to the release.
This year, the department made 215 awards to schools, districts and other jurisdictions across the country. OJP’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded nearly $53 million through three separate funding opportunities while COPS awarded nearly $32.5 million through its School Violence Prevention Program.
BJA’s STOP School Violence Technology and Threat Assessment Solutions for Safer Schools Program has awarded $29.5 million to 68 local governments and public agencies to help schools provide administrators, staff, students and first responders with the ability to use threat assessments, crisis intervention teams and anonymous reporting technology.
An additional $17.3 million was awarded to 43 municipalities through BJA’s STOP School Violence Prevention and Mental Health Program. Recipients can use this money to provide multi-disciplinary training programs to school personnel and students with the intent to prevent and respond to mental health crises.
Regents of the University of Michigan were awarded $6 million under BJA’s STOP School Violence Training and Technical Assistance Program, aimed at providing training and technical assistance to existing and future STOP School Violence grantees. The university will also serve as a resource and training center for information and research about national and statewide school safety initiatives.
Lastly, $32.5 million was awarded to 103 schools and school districts through COPS’ School Violence Prevention Program. These funds will provide K-12, primary and secondary schools up to 75% funding for school safety measures, including but not limited to:
- Coordination with law enforcement
- Training for local law enforcement officers to prevent student violence
- Technology for faster notification of local law enforcement during an emergency
- Metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrents
You can find a full list of recipients here.
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