OJJDP Acting Administrator Melodee Hanes announces the Office's $1.5 million grant to assist Detroit in combating violence on the city's east side. Seated (from l. to r.) are Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee and Mayor David Bing. The officials were joined for the announcement by Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

On August 8, 2012, OJJDP's Acting Administrator Melodee Hanes announced a $1.5 million grant to enable Detroit to expand its efforts to reduce violence among youth. The announcement came during a site visit to Detroit by federal officials as part of President Obama's National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention. Detroit is one of six cities participating in the forum.

"We are proud to support Detroit's efforts to stop the violence that threatens community safety and all too often robs young men and women of their future," Hanes said.

The grant, awarded through OJJDP's Community-Based Violence Prevention Program, will support Detroit's Operation Ceasefire project, which combines statistical information and street knowledge to identify where to concentrate antiviolence efforts, intervene in violence, and change community norms regarding violence.

At the direction of President Obama, the Departments of Justice and Education launched the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention in 2010 along with participating localities and other federal agencies. The administration created the forum as a context for participating localities to share challenges and promising strategies with each other and to explore how federal agencies can better support local efforts.

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More information about the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention is available online.