Homeland Security awards $10 million for community-led counter terrorism initiatives

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced 26 awards totaling $10 million for the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Grant Program, which seeks to address the issue of violent extremism in the United States through a series of community-led initiatives.

DHS said the grants sought to help communities identify and counter terrorist recruitment and radicalization, including deterring individuals before they engage in criminal behavior or terrorist plotting.

Additionally, the investments would help foster counter-narratives to push back against terrorist messaging and would assist local law enforcement in building the trust needed to intervene to keep younger individuals from going down a violent path.

When announcing the awards, DHS Secretary John Kelly said we were witnessing a global surge in terrorist activity and that in many ways our own back yard had become the battleground.

“That is why DHS is focused on stepping up efforts to counter terrorist recruitment and radicalization, including through close collaboration with state and local partners,” Kelly said.

Kelly continued, stating that shortly after he started at DHS, he requested a thorough policy review of the CVE Grant Program to ensure taxpayer dollars go to programs with the highest likelihood of success and support the men and women on the front lines of the fight.

“We will closely monitor these efforts to identify and amplify promising approaches to prevent terrorism,” Kelly said.

The CVE Grant Program was developed by Congress in December 2015 and is carried out in conjunction with the DHS Office for Community Partnerships and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.