The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is committed to helping improve the quality of life in neighborhoods throughout Maricopa County. While most of our work focuses on the aftermath of a crime and the impact it has on victims and communities, it’s just as important to our mission to help prevent crime from happening in the first place.

Every year, MCAO’s Community Grants Program provides limited funding to non-profit community agencies that support victims of crime and provide crime prevention education focused on substance abuse and gang activity.

For the July 2021 grant cycle, MCAO received 31 applications from organizations throughout the valley. Due to the limited amount of funding available, a total of $106,500 was awarded to 13 local non-profit organizations. Most of these organizations focus their efforts on at-risk youth and seek to interrupt unhealthy and destructive behaviors while providing education and resources. Seven of these organizations focus on youth empowerment and resiliency development including youth mentoring, workforce development, career planning, and education on life skills and healthy coping mechanisms. Five organizations focus their efforts on delivering substance abuse prevention education to youth during summer, afterschool, and in-school programs. The last organization works with medium to high-risk offenders by providing evidence-based services to reduce recidivism.

By investing funds into organizations that are on the ground working to prevent crime, we are ensuring our work has a positive impact beyond the courtroom. We appreciate the effort and commitment of these organizations to prevent crime and substance abuse by empowering youth in Maricopa County to make smart, safe, and healthy life decisions.

For the full list of grant recipients and more information please visit our RICO Community Grants Program page.