Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office will award nearly half a million dollars in grants to five organizations with the goal of reducing children’s odds of entering or reentering the criminal justice system.

The School Justice Partnership Innovation Grants are destined for initiatives that provide alternatives to suspensions and expulsion, support students emotionally, and prevent formerly incarcerated youth from reoffending.

“These innovative programs all represent promising strategies for helping students avoid the criminal justice system and, for some youth, transition back to school after being incarcerated,” Weiser said.

Using money received from court judgments and settlements, each organization will receive $100,000 over two years. The grantees are:

• Collaborative Healing Initiative within Communities in Denver will work with women and girls to reduce their likelihood of entering the prison system.
• Full Circle Restorative Justice in Salida will support restorative justice in Chaffee, Custer, Fremont and Park counties. 
• Generation Schools Network in Denver will work with youth recently-released from incarceration who are transitioning to school.
• Impact Empowerment Group in Denver will offer a program for alternatives to suspension and expulsion.
• La Plata Youth Services in La Plata County supports a Therapeutic Day School for students with trauma and mental health issues.

Several of the organizations focus on students of color. Weiser’s office pointed out that Black students who comprise 4.5% of schoolchildren statewide also account for more than 10% of suspensions and expulsions.