Seized drug money helping local kids

REVERE-Money seized from drug dealers is being used to help support programs that attempt to steer children away from illegal drugs and youth gangs.Suffolk District Attorney’s Asset Forfeiture Reinvestment Program took $50,000 in cash and assets seized in drug prosecutions and returned the money to groups like Community Action Programs Inter-City (CAPIC), which received $2,500.Working on behalf of the residents of Chelsea and Revere, the program helps fund the Police Activities League – a collaborative program together with the Revere Police Department designed to work with at-risk youths in decreasing the use of drugs, and by providing increased services and activities to these youths.”These grants literally take the money from the hands of drug dealers and places it into the coffers of nonprofits that work for the benefit of our communities in Boston, Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop,” said Suffolk DA Daniel Conley. “Our office, together with these groups, is working towards the same goal of keeping our neighborhoods safe, healthy and drug-free.”This year’s grant recipients, selected by an independent citizen’s panel, include The Improbable Players, an educational performance troupe using $3,000 in seized drug money to pay for their performances.Improbable’s workshops and post-show discussions are geared towards substance abuse prevention education in high schools and middle schools in Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop.State law allows up to 10 percent of money from the auctions of dealers’ property and confiscated funds to be returned to the community.”I am proud to give my full support to this program,” Conley said. “Today, with these grants, we have an opportunity to turn ill-gotten profits of death and despair into forces for peace and hope.”This year’s awards total $32,500 more than those distributed in the first round of reinvestments grants 15 years ago. The program has been in existence since 1992, when the awards totaled $17,500.The annual grant process usually begins in the fall, with application forms being sent out late in the year.