The Department of Justice is awarding Chicago half a million dollars to target gun crime as part of the long-running “Project Safe Neighborhoods” program.

The program focuses on combating gun crime in three ways: sending eligible cases to federal court for more severe penalties, tracing recovered guns, and hosting “offender notification” forums. A spokesman for the Illinois U.S. Attorney’s office says the current $500,000 grant is an increase after a downward trend in funding for the program in the late 2000s.