In its newly adopted 2021-22 budget, the State of Illinois has committed a record $100 million to violence prevention statewide. Roughly 60 percent of the money will be dedicated to high-crime neighborhoods in Chicago.
At an event in North Lawndale last week, CRED Founder Arne Duncan saluted the Governor and key legislative sponsors, Representative Justin Slaughter and Senator Robert Peters, for securing the money, saying, “This is the largest state investment in violence prevention in history and we are very grateful to the Governor and the legislature. There are still unmet needs, but this is a big step forward, and we know they want to do more.”
All told, public and private sources are providing approximately $93 million this year to fund violence prevention and related programs in high-crime neighborhoods in the city. That includes roughly $38M in private funds, $36M from the City, $5M from the County, and $13M from the State.
North Lawndale Peace Rally Press Coverage: