WASHINGTON, D.C. (RPRN) 7/15/2009–More than $32.8 million in grants have been awarded to 18 states and the District of Columbia as part of a joint effort by the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice to support schools in creating safer and healthier learning environments.

The highly competitive Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative attracted 422 grant applications nationally. Under the initiative, school districts, in partnership with local public mental-health agencies, law-enforcement and juvenile justice entities, must implement a comprehensive, community-wide plan that focuses on the following elements:

• Safe school environments and violence prevention activities
• Alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention activities
• Student behavioral, social and emotional supports
• Mental-health services
• Early childhood social and emotional learning programs.

“Every child in America deserves a safe and healthy school environment, and it’s our job as educators, parents and community members to ensure that happens,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. “The Safe Schools/Healthy Students grants will provide students with access to services and programs that promote healthy development, personally and academically.”

“The prevention of youth violence and substance abuse is a principal objective of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative and is crucial to our efforts to reduce juvenile delinquency,” said Laurie Robinson, acting assistant attorney general, Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice. “The initiative is well equipped to advance the prevention of delinquency, and the grants announced today represent a significant step forward towards that end.”

“In community after community, this initiative has been the catalyst for bringing schools and youth-serving organizations together to build and expand evidence-based programs to prevent violence, promote mental health and boost young people’s academic achievement.”said Eric Broderick, acting administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which manages the program on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.“The dividends for children, families and communities at large have been unprecedented: lower rates of school violence, more mental-health services for more children, better attendance and improved academic performance.”

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative draws on the best practices of education, juvenile justice, law enforcement and mental-health systems to provide integrated resources for prevention and early intervention services for children and youth.

Since 1999, the Education, Justice and Health and Human Services departments have administered the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, which has provided more than $2.1 billion to local educational, mental health, law enforcement and juvenile justice partnerships.

A complete list of grantees and their abstracts can be found at www.ed.gov/programs/dvpsafeschools/awards.html or see below. For more information on the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, visit www.ed.gov/programs/dvpsafeschools/index.html or www.sshs.samhsa.gov.

2009 Safe Schools/Healthy Students grantees are listed below:

California
Corning Union High School District
Corning, CA
$727,471

El Rancho Unified School District
Pico Rivera, CA
$1,457,841

Escondido Union School District
Escondido, CA
$1,444,942

Nevada County Superintendent of Schools
Nevada City, CA
$1,406,136

Willits Unified School District
Willitis, CA
$731,992

Yolo County Office of Education
Woodland, CA
$714,319

District of Columbia
Washington Latin Public Charter School
Washington, DC
$721,102

Florida
Madison County School District
Madison, FL
$729,347

Georgia
Rockdale County Public Schools
Conyers, GA
$1,145,240

Indiana
Perry Central Community School Corporation
Leopold, IN
$729,132

Illinois
Alton Community Unit School District #11
Alton, IL
$879,211

Wabash Community Unit School District #348
Mt. Carmel, IL
$705,734

Iowa
Marshalltown Community School District
Marshalltown, IA
$1,390,660

Kentucky
Ashland Independent School District
Ashland, KY
$729,972

Louisiana
Recovery School District – LDE
New Orleans, LA
$1,434,068

Massachusetts
Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District
Wilbraham, MA
$731,899

Mississippi
Vicksburg Warren School District
Vicksburg, MS
$1,463,456

Montana
Helena School District One
Helena, MT
$1,364,186

New Jersey
Trenton Public Schools
Trenton, NJ
$1,454,223

New York
Broome-Delaware-Tioga Board of Cooperative Services (BOCES)
Binghamton, NY
$1,402,892

Oneida-Herkimer-Madison Board of Cooperative Services (BOCES)
New Hartford, NY
$1,462,996

Sodus Central School District
Sodus, NY
$731,992

Union Springs Central School District
Union Springs, NY
$1,435,968

North Carolina
Burke County Public Schools
Morganton, NC
$1,452,040

Ohio
Wood County Educational Services Center
Bowling Green, OH
$1,364,627

South Carolina
Kershaw County School District
Camden, SC
$1,431,287

Saluda County School District
Saluda, SC
$711,500

Texas
Mission Consolidated Independent School District
Mission, TX
$1,457,901

Virginia
Albemarle County Public Schools
Charlottesville, VA
$1,456,378

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Contact: Jo Ann Webb,
(202) 401-1576