U.S. Attorney Parker announces more than $105 million in grants to support community safety in Southern District of Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced today that the U.S. Department of Justice has awarded 31 grants totaling $17 million to cities, counties, local law enforcement agencies, colleges and universities, and social service agencies in the 48-county Southern District of Ohio. Additionally, the Justice Department awarded more than $88.4 million to state agencies and elected offices in Ohio.

“The grants will promote safety and strengthen trust, helping communities tackle the proliferation of gun violence and restore bonds of trust between community residents and the justice system,” U.S. Attorney Parker said. “These grants are also going to accelerate justice system reforms, improve the fairness and effectiveness of the juvenile justice system, expand access to victim services, and advance science and innovation to strengthen the knowledge base that policy makers and practitioners can use to develop better strategies to improve community safety.”

Parker said the Bureau of Justice Assistance awarded 25 grants totaling $14 million to cities, counties, and non-profit agencies in the district. The funds will support community response to the opioid epidemic, improve reentry education, increase mental health services for those charged with crimes and support investigations into crimes against children.

Grants from the Office for Victims of Crime include:

            Adult Advocacy Center                      $747,917

            OhioHealth Research Institute           $400,000

            Ohio University                                  $323,000

            Women Helping Women                    $764,000

The National Institute of Justice awarded the University of Cincinnati $105,000 for a graduate research fellowship. Other grants were awarded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Sex Offender Monitoring, Apprehending Registering and Tracking (SMART) Office, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Nine state agencies and elected offices received grants from the Department of Justice to support increasing community safety statewide.

In total, the Justice Department awarded more than $4.4 billion nationwide to support community safety efforts. Visit the OJP website for the complete list of grantees as well as more information on the programs.

# # #