Centerstone of tennessee, INC. Will implement centerstones strategies to support children exposed to violence in tennessee

The Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention awarded Centerstone of Tennessee, Inc., $830,000 under the Children Exposed to Violence program (CFDA 16.818) on June 1, 2026, for a three-year period of performance ending May 31, 2029.

Centerstone will implement support services for children exposed to violence in their homes, schools, and communities across Cheatham, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, and Stewart counties in Tennessee, and Christian and Trigg counties in Kentucky. Project activities include establishing a multidisciplinary planning team, delivering community outreach and education, providing mental health services to affected children, offering family support services such as parent education, and implementing violent crime reduction strategies targeting juvenile offenders. The initiative will fill service gaps and build protective factors through formal partnerships with juvenile courts and community organizations. Youth offender accountability efforts will emphasize anger control instruction, moral reasoning training, and social skills development to reduce recidivism, with therapists facilitating referrals for community service and restitution projects aligned with juvenile justice system involvement.

Place of performance is Nashville, Tennessee. Centerstone of Tennessee is a nonprofit behavioral health organization headquartered in Nashville with extensive experience implementing federal grant-funded mental health and substance use disorder programs.

The initiative aims to develop and provide support services to children exposed to violence in their homes, schools, and communities and to develop, enhance, and implement violent crime reduction strategies for violent juvenile offenders. The project will serve the counties of cheatham, dickson, houston, humphreys, montgomery, and stewart in tennessee, and christian and trigg counties in kentucky. Project activities include establishing a multidisciplinary planning team and implementing prevention and intervention strategies. The initiative will focus on filling service gaps, addressing risk factors, and building protective factors to mitigate the impact of violence on children and their families. Project activities will include community outreach and education, the provision of mental health services for children exposed to violence, and crime reduction strategies for the prevention and intervention of violent behavior. Additionally, the program will offer family support services, such as parent education, to further empower families affected by violence. The project will provide the full range of required services and will collaborate with community organizations to coordinate services and provide other needed support. The project will also emphasize youth offender accountability through formal partnerships with juvenile courts, aiming to establish recidivism reduction methods aligned with best practices. The project will teach anger control, moral reasoning, and social skills to reduce recidivism. Additionally, therapists will facilitate referrals for youth to engage in accountability activitiessuch as community service and restitution projectswhile working closely with the juvenile justice system to ensure that young offenders take responsibility for their actions and address the harm caused by their actions. The comprehensive plan involves prevention and intervention strategies and services, mental health services, and performance/quality improvement. Anticipated outcomes include reduced involvement with the justice system; increased connections among families, schools, and communities; improved family functioning; decreased rates of victimization and maltreatment; and improved mental health outcomes for children and families affected by violence.