What is Project AWARE?
Vice President Joe Biden (R) makes brief remarks to the press at the beginning of a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (2nd R) and gun violence survivors and victims and gun safety advocacy groups in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building January 9, 2013 in Washington, DC. President Barack Obama appointed Biden to oversee a task force on gun violence.
Joe Biden highlighted Project AWARE, a new White House initiative, during his Google+ "fireside hangout" about gun control.
But those who immediately turned to search engines to learn about the project might not have found the answers they were looking for.
Googling Project AWARE brings up many worthy causes of the same name — a global force of eco-minded deep-ocean divers, or a series of youth empowerment workshop groups, for instance — but did little to clarify the vice president's proposal from the White House.
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The White House's Project AWARE, unveiled this month, stands for "Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education," and is part of the Obama administration's comprehensive plan to protect schools and communities from gun violence.
AWARE plans to reach 750,000 children by training teachers and other adults to recognize children who may be suffering and in need of mental health services, JD Supra Law News reported.
The project allocates $15 million toward that training. It also recommends $40 million in spending to link school districts to law enforcement and mental health facilities, to ensure that students who may be mentally ill can access services.
Biden has been spearheading the White House's committee on gun control and gun violence, and is headed to Richmond, Virginia Friday to meet with Majority Leader Eric Cantor — "viewed by many as the unofficial leader of the younger, socially conservative members of the House," according to the Huffington Post. Cantor also happens to be one of Congress' staunchest gun rights defenders, the Huffington Post added.
The Friday stop is the first of several on a trip to explain the new gun control plan to politicians and to the American people.
More from GlobalPost: Google hangout with Vice President Biden addresses gun control