The Biden administration will be awarding economic grants to communities impacted by gun violence as a way to prevent crime and increase opportunity.
A White House official told PoliticusUSA:
On Wednesday, February 28, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, the Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) and the Department of Labor (DOL) will host a roundtable on improving job opportunities for communities affected by gun violence and discuss the connection between workforce development and violence intervention and prevention.
During the roundtable, DOL will also discuss its Growth Opportunities Program, which provides up to $85 million to improve job opportunities for youth in communities affected by violence and poverty. This recently announced funding opportunity supports programs that provide skills training through work-based learning, employment services, educational support and mentorship to youth and young adults in communities affected by violence, crime and poverty.
These funds provided by the Growth Opportunities Program build on efforts by the Biden-Harris Administration to prevent crime and promote public safety, including $15 billion provided by the President’s American Rescue Plan to support additional police officers, expand community violence intervention, add crisis responders, and more. While the President’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) — the most significant gun safety legislation in the last 30 years — provides $250 million in funding for community-based violence prevention initiatives, in addition to key investments for schools to expand mental health services and violence intervention programs.
The Biden administration’s effort is a way to try to reduce gun violence while also rebuilding communities that have been impacted by gun violence. More economic opportunity helps to promote safer communities by taking away crime as an incentive to make a living.
In some communities, young people turn to crime, because of a lack of economic opportunity. The Biden administration sees the purpose of what they are doing.
A senior administration official told PoliticusUSA during a call with reporters:
These funding opportunities will be key to providing needed resources for community organizations and government leaders that are investing in the communities most impacted that are providing employment opportunities. For those who are most risk most at risk and most vulnerable to gun violence and ensuring that we are addressing both the lack of economic opportunity and the crisis of gun violence.
These sorts of forward thinking policies are why President Biden remains the right person to deliver the sort of cultural change that comes with smart presidents who want to solve problems for the American people.
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