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

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

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

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.