Mister Rogers’ Pa. company gets $496,000 federal grant for program linking cops, kids

Mister Rogers’ Pa. company gets cops-kids grant

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh company founded by television’s Mister Rogers has received a $496,000 federal grant for a program that brings police and children together.

The Department of Justice announced the grant for The Fred Rogers Co. on Wednesday. The money will be used for a national rollout of the company’s video program “One on One: Connecting Cops & Kids.”

The program was created about 10 years ago to help build positive relationships between police and children. More than 220 police officers in western Pennsylvania have attended training sessions featuring the video.

The grant will fund 28 workshops across the country for 750 people. Many of those participants will then lead “Cops & Kids” workshops in their own departments.

Fred Rogers was the soft-spoken, cardigan-wearing host of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” for more than 30 years. He died in 2002.

(This version CORRECTS name of show to Rogers’, not Rogers.)