NCJ Number
78428
Date Published
1981
Length
68 pages
Annotation
Based on data gathered between May and August 1980, this report evaluates nine crisis intervention projects located throughout Wisconsin which primarily served battered women through shelters, referrals, counseling, and advocacy.
Abstract
The Wisconsin Council on Criminal Justice addressed problems of domestic violence by funding two programs in 1980 -- Victim Services and Juvenile Victim Support. Information on the nine crisis intervention projects operating under the Victim Services program was collected through site visits, interviews with project personnel, and data sheets completed by project workers for each client served between May 1 and August 31, 1980. During this time, the projects served 1,625 persons including women, men, adults, and juveniles of whom 27 percent were sheltered. The typical client was a 30-year-old white woman with two children. The predominant reason given for contacting the projects was domestic violence, particularly among individuals who received shelter. A shelter on any given day was likely to contain two families, each staying 9 or 10 days. In 75 percent of the reported cases, the woman's assailant was her husband. The cost for shelter per client per day ranged from $6-42 depending on the numbers served and other factors. Shelter budgets which ranged from $56,000 to $192,000 per year were not correlated to client costs. The single largest source of client referrals was self-referral, and this was highest in urban areas. Common referrals by the projects were to attorneys, departments of social services, and counseling services. Counseling was performed for 60 percent or more of all sheltered clients. For nonsheltered clients, the typical contact was one or two phone calls lasting about 30 minutes each. Most of the 91 males in the sample were not themselves abused but were concerned about abuse of another person or some other reasons. The evaluation estimated a domestic violence rate of 435 per 100,000 population in Wisconsin and found the demand for victim services substantial in rural and urban areas. On a per capita basis, the demand appeared greatest in rural areas. The report concludes with suggestions for further investigation into project outcomes and the dynamics of family violence and suggests that violent families may be a significant factor in producing runaway children. Client data forms and over 40 references are appended. (Author abstract modified)