Cook County opens 2026 violence-intervention grant program after citing Chicago Heights need

Cook County opened its 2026 Community Violence Intervention grant opportunity July 1, creating a path for organizations serving Chicago Heights to compete for funding for local intervention, outreach and safety programs. Applications were due Aug. 3, 2026, at 5 p.m. Central, so the application deadline has passed.

The county’s funding notice lists Chicago Heights in its community-need data and displays a $250,000 amount alongside the city. That figure is part of the grant opportunity’s published framework. It is not confirmation that Chicago Heights, or an organization serving the city, has received $250,000.

What Cook County is offering i

Cook County says the broader 2026 program will award up to $15 million. The program is administered through the Cook County Justice Advisory Council, which is overseeing the grant process and the county’s application timeline.

The notice describes separate funding tracks. Track 2 is expected to include approximately 16 awards, with individual awards ranging from $100,000 to $1.5 million depending on the community area. The approved materials do not provide specific Track 1 figures.

For Chicago Heights, the county materials include the figures 189 and 21 in the community-data table, along with the displayed $250,000 amount. The approved source extract does not show the table’s column definitions for those two figures. As a result, they cannot be reliably characterized here as a crime rate, assigned to a specific calendar year or given a more specific meaning than the source supports.

What is known about local participation i

The grant opportunity could support organizations working in Chicago Heights, but the cited materials do not establish that a Chicago Heights organization submitted an application. They also do not show that the city itself is a grant recipient.

That distinction matters because the county’s community-need listing and displayed amount describe an opportunity to seek funding, not a final award. Any local program, staffing or service expansion would depend on the county’s eventual award decisions and on an eligible organization receiving funding.

Next step is expected in October i

Cook County anticipates presenting grant awards to the County Board in October 2026. That presentation is the next known public milestone after the Aug. 3 application deadline.

If the schedule proceeds as described, the grant performance period will run from Dec. 1, 2026, through Nov. 30, 2028. Until award decisions are published, the displayed $250,000 remains an amount associated with Chicago Heights in the county notice—not confirmed funding for a local organization.