DOJ Awards $1.5 Million Grant for 12/14 Support

The United States Department of Justice has awarded a more than $1.5 million grant for organizations and groups that supported first responders, victims and the community in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 shooting, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday.

"This funding will provide critical support to the brave women and men who responded to the devastating violence at Sandy Hook Elementary School, as well as the counselors and others who are helping the community to recover," Holder said.

The grant will specifically reimburse organizations that provided crisis intervention services, trauma-informed care and victim-related law enforcement support.

It will also cover some costs incurred in moving students from Sandy Hook Elementary School to Chalk Hill School in Monroe, according to Holder.

"I'm very grateful," said Superintendent John Reed. "About two weeks ago, people came up from Washington associated with the grant. We had tremendous cooperation at that meeting that really expedited the approval of the grant. I'm grateful to everybody who helped assemble the request and provided necessary information."

The grant comes to Newtown through the federal Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), which channeled the funds through the state's judicial department for disbursement. OVC worked with Newtown officials.

"OVC is committed to ensuring that the community of Newtown has the resources necessary to assist victims of this horrific crime," said OVC Director Joye Frost. "Through this funding, which will be administered by the Connecticut state government, OVC is supporting the critically important work of the school system, social service and medical organizations and the city government as they continue to assist victims."

Reed said he's also looking forward to what would be a second phase of the grant, in the process of being submitted.

"That is of significant importance to both the town and the school system," he said. "It does have fairly significant funding for security measures, and we're very optimistically looking to the federal government to support them."

Department of Justice officials said the second grant, should it be approved, would also provide more funding for long-term victim recovery.