Kim celebrates funding for community safety initiative

HARRISBURG, Jan. 12 – State Rep. Patty Kim, D-Dauphin, today announced $800,000 has been awarded by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to reduce gun and group violence in Harrisburg.

“Every Pennsylvanian deserves to be safe in their home and their community; preventing future acts of violence is the best way to ensure that,” said Kim. “This grant will help give our community the tools it needs to be more effective when it comes to reducing violence.”

The Center for Employment Opportunities said this funding will enhance its existing PCCD grant-funded initiative and support the implementation of Group Violence Intervention programming in its Harrisburg office.

Grant funds will allow CEO to serve an additional 200 individuals and extend its Credible Messenger Initiative/Peer Support Services for an additional 18 months.

With this continued PCCD support, CEO will launch two new transitional work crews to connect justice-involved individuals at high-risk of recidivism and a history of experiencing gun violence to immediate work with daily pay, on-the-job training, comprehensive employment services and supportive services from a peer mentor.

Grant funds will be used for personnel costs, training and travel costs for CEO participants, supplies and vehicle-related expenses for transitional work crews, participant stipends for engagement with Peer Support Services, and indirect costs.

This week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency awarded $100 million in grants to reduce gun and group violence across Pennsylvania. Together, the grants will support 127 projects implementing local and regional strategies to reduce violence in Pennsylvania.