Attention: This is not a current document. It is an excerpt from the Web page of the former Colorado governor, Roy Romer. It is displayed by the Colorado State Archives for its historical value.

Governor Roy Romer and the Youth Crime Prevention and Intervention (YCPI) Board last week announced 199 projects in 39 counties will receive over $7.8 million in grants for Colorado's efforts to reduce incidents of youth crime and violence.

With individual grant amounts averaging $39,000, and ranging from $1,200 to $500,000, they will help to fund a variety of projects that include mentoring, parenting, recreation, gang intervention, employment, education, and youth and family centers. The grantees include small community-based organizations such as the Good Time Lowrider Bike and Youth Club in Rio Grande County as well as larger agencies such as the City of Greeley. Together the projects will serve thousands of young people and their families statewide through a variety of successful prevention and intervention approaches.

As a means of addressing the increasing rate of violence and criminal activity among youth in the state, the Colorado General Assembly passed and Governor Romer signed HB 1360 in 1994, which created the Youth Crime Prevention and Intervention Grant Program.

Since that time, the incidence of youth crime in the state has declined significantly, according to Colorado Division of Criminal Justice spokesman, Lance Clem, but the "lethality" or violent nature of youth crime has grown more severe. The Youth Crime Prevention and Intervention Grant Program provides state funding for community-based programs that target youth and their families for prevention and intervention services in an effort to stem youth crime and violence.

This year, the YCPI Board received 328 grant applications requesting over $18 million in state funding, or, roughly $57,000 per application. Of the original applicants, 199 were selected for $7.8 million in funding. One-fourth of the funds, or $2.0 million, is earmarked for projects targeting early childhood programs, and $79,000 has been set aside for evaluating the YCPI program. Program evaluation will be conducted by the CU-Boulder Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.

Last modified June 18, 2003