Harrisburg, PA — The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) School Safety and Security Committee is investing more than $140 million in funding — the largest amount of state funding ever provided for School Safety, Security, and Mental Health grants in a single year — to enhance school safety, security, and mental health supports across Pennsylvania’s public and nonpublic schools.
“Today’s announcement of the largest state funding allocation this grant program has ever provided underscores our commitment to giving Pennsylvania schools the resources they need to prevent threats, support well-being, and keep students and staff safe,” said Kirsten Kenyon, PCCD Executive Director. “These investments will help schools strengthen essential safety measures and expand behavioral health services so every student has the safe, supportive environment where they can grow and thrive.”
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2026-27 School Safety & Mental Health Grants:
Over $138 million in noncompetitive, formula-based funding is available for public schools to support physical security enhancements and/or mental health initiatives.
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2026-27 CPR/AED Training for Nonpublic Schools Grant
$2.5 million in noncompetitive grant funding for eligible nonpublic schools to help cover the cost of required cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator (AED) training. The funding supports instruction provided by an approved trainer, as required by state law (24 P.S. §1423.1).
Additional funding under PCCD’s Targeted School Safety Grants for Nonpublic Schools totaling $20.7 million will be available to eligible entities later this year.
Since taking office, the Shapiro-Davis Administration has made closing security gaps and expanding mental health resources for students a top priority, investing more than $400 million in over 1,100 public and private K–12 schools. Over the last three years, more than $130 million of this funding has been used by public schools to increase mental health supports for students. Earlier this year, PCCD approved 353 Targeted School Safety grants totaling more than $20 million and $100 million in School Safety and Mental Health Grants.
These investments are making a difference: results from the 2025 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) show that 83 percent of students in grades 6 through 12 report feeling safe at school—an increase from 78 percent in 2023. Additionally, 76 percent of the same students reported their overall mental health is good – also an increase from 71 percent in 2023.
In addition to school safety and security funding, the budget also includes new and continued funding to make Pennsylvania’s communities safer, including:
More than $50 million for the Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) grant program which drives dollars out to community-based organizations to reduce gun violence;
$11.5 million for the Building Opportunities through Out-of-School Time (BOOST) initiative to keep kids safe, supported, and engaged in afterschool and summer programming;
$16.2 million in funding to train four additional Pennsylvania State Police cadet classes;
$10 million for nonprofit and faith-based organizations to combat hate crimes by enhancing the security measures at their facilities; and
$2.5 million to establish a new grant program supporting law enforcement agencies with the tools and resources they need to improve clearance rates for homicides and other violent crimes.
For more information on the Shapiro-Davis Administration’s work to keep Pennsylvania’s schools safe, visit PCCD’s School Safety & Security webpage.