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The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a total of $5,094,793 to public school districts in St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; and Chicago, Illinois, to help students coping with trauma from social unrest.

“Violence tears at the fabric of a school community, and the long-term effects can be devastating,” said U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. in a statement.

The department said the new discretionary grant program, Promoting Student Resilience, provides funding to school districts to establish school-based mental health, counseling, and behavioral programs for students impacted by uprisings in their community.

St. Louis Public Schools received more than $1.44 million to implement trauma-focused programs in 18 district elementary schools, six North St. Louis County schools (which include Ferguson, Missouri), and six nonpublic schools in the city of St. Louis.

The department granted more than $2.37 million to Baltimore City Public Schools, which will partner with the University of Maryland, the Baltimore City Health Department, and others to expand its capacity to effectively address the behavioral and mental health needs of its students.

The district will employ full-time mental health professionals at 13 schools directly impacted by rioting following Freddie Gray’s funeral.

Chicago Public Schools received more than $1.27 million to implement the Healing Trauma Together program to help students at 10 high schools located in high violence communities that also experienced unrest.

SOURCE: U.S. Dept. Education | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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