SC.GOV: The Official Web site of the State of South Carolina

Columbia, SC – The South Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Coalition (SCYVPC), through the South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH), has received funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to provide mini-grants to community and faith-based initiatives, grassroots organizations and non-profit organizations.

The mini-grants will assist in providing services and developing initiatives for children, adolescents and families in the area of violence prevention.  SCDMH will accept proposals until Monday, August 14, 2006 at 3:15 p.m.  To access further information and download the application, interested parties should visit the following Web address: http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/reqforprop.htm. 

The recent coverage of youth violence across the state has highlighted the desperate need for prevention programs in South Carolina. For this reason, the SCYVPC is committed to fighting this growing threat and protecting young people and the community.

The Centers for Disease Control Reports:

• Approximately every 30 seconds a young person between the ages 10 and 24 is injured in a violent act;
• Every day, approximately 15 young people between the ages 10 and 24 are murdered;
• Homicide is the leading cause of death for African-Americans between the ages of 10 and 24.

Further, the Association for Psychological Science reports that by the time the typical American child enters middle school, he or she will have witnessed more than 8,000 murders and more than 100,000 other acts of violence on network television.

Said Meggan Newman, SCYVPC project director, “Youth violence is a multifaceted issue.  As such, it is best addressed through collaboration among agencies and community organizations committed to putting an end to this serious problem.  It is our hope that these mini-grants will aid those groups, who are on the front lines, in addressing this growing epidemic.”

The SCYVPC is a collaboration of youth-serving state and community-based agencies working together to identify gaps in youth violence prevention services and provide resources, networking opportunities, and seed funding to community agencies that serve youth.

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