The Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia has received a three-year, $344,940 grant from the Center on Crime, Communities & Culture to establish a counseling center for young victims of violence.

The AVP Child and Youth Victim Counseling Center will provide social and mental health services for young crime victims before, during and after criminal justice proceedings. The center also will provide mental health treatment to child abuse and domestic violence victims, and will train educators on how to identify and help child victims.

The nonprofit AVP works to reduce violence in inner-city communities by providing education, early-prevention training and victim and survivor support.

The Crime, Communities & Culture center is part of philanthropist George Soros' Open Society Institute. The center promotes criminal justice and public safety programs and research. The Open Society Foundation had assets of more than $259 million and made grants of more than $96 million in 1996.