The office of D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has announced a new violence prevention program aimed at organizations serving the city’s young people. The program will give out grants to local community-based nonprofits who serve kids in the District, with the goal of funding programs that will help steer young people away from falling victim to or perpetuating violence.

Local nonprofits will be eligible for awards of up to $50,000 to run programs that last between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2024. The total pool of money available is $250,000.

“Hopeful children are safer children – to themselves and everyone around them,” said Attorney General Schwalb, whose office prosecutes juvenile crime in the District, in a press release. “Policing and prosecution are two critical components of a public safety strategy, but the District cannot arrest and incarcerate its way out of crime. Prevention must be part of a comprehensive crime strategy as it is equally important and necessary in making our community safer now and in the long run.”

The grant program comes as D.C. is facing a surge in homicides and overall violent crime. While the 274 homicides last year overwhelmingly involved adults, a majority of arrests for both carjacking and robberies — two categories of crime that also surged in the District — were of young people under 18, according to D.C. police and other city data.

Overall, youth arrests for violent crimes in the District have crept back to, and in some cases above, pre-pandemic levels after falling steeply in 2020; 593 kids under 18 had been arrested for violent crimes as of November 30 last year, compared to 528 kids arrested in all of 2019. And shootings in the District have also increasingly affected D.C.’s teens and children in recent years. In 2021, eight kids under 18 were fatally shot — and that total doubled in 2022, when 16 kids under 18 were killed by gunfire. Once again in 2023, 16 kids under 18 were victims of fatal shootings.

The grant program, announced Wednesday, is the first time the Office of the Attorney General has given out grants for organizations specifically focused on youth violence prevention. But the office has administered similar grants for local nonprofits before — like in 2022, when it offered money to help local organizations support migrants bused to D.C. from Texas and Arizona.

Like other OAG programs — including the office’s violence intervention program, Cure the Streets — the grants are funded through the “litigation support fund,” which is the money the office recoups from lawsuits it brings on behalf of D.C. residents. For example, some of the money for the grants is coming from a recent settlement the OAG reached with Chipotle over the company’s alleged violation of child labor laws.

The office will be funding projects that fall under the following categories:

• Academic Achievement & Workforce Readiness (examples include tutoring, workforce training, and apprenticeship programs)
• Youth & Family Support (examples include family counseling and parent coaching programs)
• Trauma-Informed Services (examples include healing circles or other programs that create “safe spaces” to discuss the effects of trauma)
• Conflict & Dispute Resolution (examples include conflict resolution training or emotional regulation skill-building programs)
• Meaningful Engagement (examples include recreational activities, mentoring, or volunteer opportunities)
• Mental Health & Wellbeing (examples include therapy or other forms of mental health care)

Local community-based nonprofits can apply until the application window closes on February 2.