CHICAGO (WCIA) — Governor Pritzker announced on Tuesday that anti-violence organizations throughout the state have a chance to apply for an additional $100 million in grants to fund their operations.

The funding comes from the Reimagine Public Safety Act and will support nonprofits and local governments in 16 municipal areas outside of Chicago, including Danville, Decatur, Springfield and Champaign-Urbana. The $100 million builds on $113 million that was made available in May.

“This administration is delivering historic levels of violence prevention funding to interrupt violence and keep our communities safe,” Pritzker said. “I am grateful for the thoughtful work of our Local Advisory Councils in recommending community-specific solutions that can get at the root-causes of firearm violence. This funding will support on-the-ground work from people with the community knowledge and passion necessary to make substantive change.”

The new investment comes after the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention (OFVP) at the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) convened Local Advisory Councils in the 16 eligible municipalities to make recommendations on how to allocate violence prevention resources in their communities. From these recommendations, the OFVP designed a greater strategy to meet violence prevention needs in each area.

The grants will go toward programs in municipalities that have less than 1 million people and are disproportionately affected by violence. The $100 million will be released in three direct service Notice of Funding Opportunities:

• Violence prevention – For programs that include street intervention, victim services, case management and other engagement and wrap around services for those at highest risk of harming or being harmed through gun violence.
• Trauma informed behavioral health services – For programs that include mental health and behavioral health interventions that address trauma recovery and other mental health improvements.
• Youth intervention services – For programs that include mentoring, employment skills development, like skills development, assistance with accessing education/vocational programming and employment and other activities that promote positive engagement for high-risk 11- to 24-year-olds.

Interested organizations are encouraged to use free IDHS resources to assist with the application process. Further information can be found on the IDHS website.