A University of Hawaii program has won a federal grant for an effort to lessen the effect of children’s exposure to domestic violence.

The $249,300 will go to Safe Start Promising Approaches Project — a partnership between UH Manoa and Parents and Children Together, a family service agency in Kalihi.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Programs awarded the grant, one of only 10 given across the nation.

The Safe Start project aims to develop practices and innovations to prevent children from being exposed to violence in their homes and communities, and reduce the impact on them when they are exposed, UH officials said.

State-funded domestic violence programs have been significantly cut in recent years.