DUMFRIES, Va. — A new federal grant will allow for group mentoring to help children.
Dumfries Director of Community Services Cydny Neville was applauded Tuesday night when she told the Town Council she obtained a $75,000 criminal justice grant to launch a new program called “Dumfries Cares.” It’s a youth mentoring initiative that will have business owners, residents, and community officials involved in the lives of youth in the town.
“Through mentoring, we are going to reduce the number of unsupervised children in the afternoons, on weekends and in summertime, reduce the potential and / or actual number of youth participating juvenile crimes and drug abuse, increase the number of parents receiving parenting training and services, and improve at-risk and underserved youth academic performance,” said Neville.
The grant will also fund two new part-time positions: a program assistant and a program intern. Neville said the Dumfries Cares mentoring initiative is something she was wanted to implement for months and this new grant will now allow that to happen.
At-risk youth often demonstrate violent behavior, become involved in crime, become involved in sex, drugs, and perform poor in school.
