Healey touts violence prevention grants at Boys & Girls Club of Worcester
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WORCESTER — Gov. Maura Healey visited Worcester Monday to convene a meeting with community partners and public safety officials from across the state to discuss community partnerships designed for violence prevention.
During the event, held at the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester, Healey announced the state has invested nearly $1.5 million in federal grants for violence prevention, response and community engagement efforts through the summer and fall, a time when violence in the state normally peaks.
"We know all communities are different. There's some commonalities among communities, but this cannot be a one-size-fits-all application," Healey said. "Which is why they're targeted, distributed across communities so that you're able to tailor it to what fits the needs within your communities."
The Worcester County District Attorney's office, known as the Middle District Attorney's office, will receive $100,000 in grant funding through the Safer Communities Initiative.
The initiative is run by the Office of Grants and Research, which is part of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. It requires district attorney offices to dedicate awarded funds to violence prevention, intervention or diversion programming.
The remaining funds will go to support enforcement, prosecution and youth programming for state police.
The program provides funding to district attorneys and state police.
Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said the funding will help officials in Worcester County apply new understandings of trauma to respond and reduce levels of violence among youth, such as intervention and prevention programming.
"The money's going to support 250 kids," Early said. "I can tell you what the headlines would have been like if you didn't get to these 250 kids. It doesn't take an active imagination."
According to a release from the governor's office, grant-funded enforcement efforts resulted in the removal of 95 illegally possessed firearms in the state as well as the seizure of approximately 44,000 grams of heroin and fentanyl, 2,900 grams of cocaine and crack and 4,000 grams of marijuana from July to December 2022.
The following agencies are also grant recipients:
Berkshire District Attorney's Office with $99,933
Essex District Attorney's Office with $100,000
Hampden District Attorney's Office with $100,000
Middlesex District Attorney's Office with $100,000
Norfolk District Attorney's Office with $96,329.57
Northwestern District Attorney's Office with $100,000
Plymouth District Attorney's Office with $100,000
Suffolk District Attorney's Office with $100,000
State police in Boston with $210,000
State police in Lawrence and Brockton with $170,000
State police in Springfield/Holyoke with $160,000
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Healey touts violence prevention grants at Boys & Girls Club of Worcester
