Grant Details

The purpose of grants offered under this program is to reduce the incidence of violence in Cook County through meaningful programs. Programs should focus on best practices with proven success in reducing criminal involvement and risk of involvement in violence as the victim or perpetrator including, but not limited to:

• cognitive behavioral therapy,
• functional family therapy,
• multi-systemic therapy,
• soft skill building,
• education and school re-engagement,
• jobs programs,
• employment training,
• vocational training,
• mentoring,
• school re-engagement,
• balanced and restorative justice,
• civic engagement,
• evening and weekend extracurricular activities, and
• academic tutoring.

Programs shall not focus solely on case management without service provision. Priority will be given to organizations or collaborations who service clients/constituency that receives services from the county. Priority will also be given to proposers with both cultural and language competent programs based on the populations they serve. Priority will also be given to programs that include a third party evaluation or the resources or partnerships established to track outcomes for program participants.

Special consideration will be given to programs that meet any of the following criteria:

• build on existing city/county partnerships focused on violence reduction,
• serve populations that are already being served by county departments such as court involved youth or cook county housing authority residents,
• innovative approaches to treating trauma and/or co-occuring disorders as part of an effort to break the cycle of violence,
• innovative approaches to staffing and training of potential staff that include former victims or perpetrators of violence,
• Include innovative partnerships between providers to target all the needs of a specific geographical area,
• Reflect innovative thinking about extending restorative justice practices in communities affected by violence, and,
• use innovative approaches to involve youth in the process of addressing violence through civic engagement, policy or community action.