Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley last week delivered more than $12,000 to Dorchester youth groups as part of an annual program that diverts seized drug money to Suffolk County community groups that keep city kids away from drugs, crime, and violence.

On Sept. 25, Conley delivered a pair of $5,000 checks to Dorchester-based organizations – Close to Home, an organization that addresses issues of domestic violence in the Dorchester community, and the Dorchester Youth Collaborative, which provides services to at-risk youth. On Sept 26, the DA delivered an additional $2,500 to the North American Family Institute during the Youth and Family Fun Day at the Franklin Field Teen Center.

All three deliveries were part of Conley’s annual Asset Forfeiture Reinvestment Program, which takes cash and assets seized during Suffolk County narcotics investigations and returns them to the community in the form of free cash awards to community groups and outreach agencies.

The funds provided to Close to Home will fund a Youth Team of 13- to 20-year-olds to prevent domestic and sexual violence in Fields Corner. The Youth Team was formed in 2004 when area young people established a formal peer mobilization group. Conley presented the money on Friday to executive director Aimee Thompson.

Also Friday, Conley met with Dorchester Youth Collaborative Executive Director Emmet Folgert, who said the money will support an anti-drug program to reduce drug abuse and educate young people about its consequences through intervention and prevention services.

On Saturday afternoon, Conley delivered the third award to Dr. Yitzhak Bakal, the president and founder of the NAFI. That money, Bakal said, will go toward the group’s Youth and Police Initiative training program, run through the Franklin Field teen center. The YPI works to connect youth and law enforcement by enhancing police officers’ understanding of young people’s beliefs, values, and experiences while providing youths with an understanding of and regard for the challenges police officers face on the job.

Money distributed through the Asset Forfeiture Reinvestment Program reflects a portion of drug dealers’ cash and assets seized by Conley’s office, State Police, and local law enforcement agencies during narcotics investigations in the past year. Massachusetts law allows up to 10% of those monies to be redistributed to non-profit community groups within the district attorney’s jurisdiction.

“Tough financial times are no excuse to cut funding to local groups that serve our most vulnerable citizens,” Conley said. “Whether we’re fighting dating violence or drug use, investment in our kids is investment in our shared future.”

This year’s awards total $50,000, or $32,500 more than the funds distributed in the first round of reinvestment grants 17 years ago. The program has been in existence since 1992, when the awards totaled $17,500.

The annual grant application is available in June and awards are distributed to eligible Suffolk groups in the fall.