City gets grant to combat teen dating violence

The Baltimore City Health Department will receive a $1.75 million federal grant to help prevent teen dating violence.

The grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be used to develop a program to stop teen dating violence before it happens. It is part of CDC initiative called Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships.

Three other cities will also participate in the five-year initiative. The CDC will use the results from the cities to look at the cost, feasibility, sustainability and effectiveness of a comprehensive approach to teen dating violence.

The federal agency wants the health department to become the primary agent for dating violence prevention programming in Baltimore.