On September 23, 2013, OJJDP Administrator Robert L. Listenbee announced grant awards totaling more than $8 million to reduce youth violence and gang activity in six sites nationwide. The awards are being made through OJJDP's Community-Based Violence Prevention program. The program is changing community norms regarding violence, providing alternatives to violence, and increasing awareness of the risks and consequences of involvement in violence through the replication of programs such as the Boston Gun Project, the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model, and the Cure Violence model.

"OJJDP's Community-Based Violence Prevention program focuses youth violence prevention efforts on what research shows works," said Administrator Listenbee at a news conference in Newport News, VA, one of the cities receiving a grant award. "Through a combination of prevention, intervention, enforcement, and reentry programs, these sites will promote alternatives to violence and make communities safer." Administrator Listenbee announced the award with U.S. Representative Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, Newport News Mayor McKinley L. Price, and several city officials.

The six grant recipients are:

•   City of Camden, NJ: $1,416,420
•   City of East Baton Rouge, LA: $1,458,231
•   City of Kansas City, MO: $1,271,319
•   City of Newport News, VA: $870,316
•   City of Syracuse, NY: $1,491,825
•   Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention: $1,500,000

Nationwide, seven children and teenagers die from gunfire every day. This violence disproportionately affects youth, low-income populations, and people of color. For African American boys and young men between the ages of 10 and 24, homicide is not only the leading cause of death—it results in more deaths than the next four leading causes combined.

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For more information on OJJDP's Community-Based Violence Prevention program, visit OJJDP's Web site.