History, Process and Timeline

Representatives from End Abuse, WCASA, American Indian’s Against Abuse (AIAA), Black and Brown Womyn Power Coalition (BBWPC), the WI Department of Justice (DOJ), the WI Department of Children and Families (DCF), the WI Department of Health Services (DHS), and the WI Governor’s Council on Domestic Abuse – were charged with the following:

1. Identify strategies to get input from a wide range of individuals and programs as to the most important priorities for services to address DV and SA.
2. Distill and interpret the information to translate it to a broad set of priorities or themes for a long-range plan (LRP).

Read the ideas generated from these input sessions on the Provider Input page.

The Long Range Plan Team reconvened virtually with participatory design experts Collaborative Connections to hold input sessions over several months with directors and advocates from member programs throughout the state. This information is included below not only to honor the work of those who provided that feedback, but also to serve as a foundation for the interpretations and recommendations laid out later in the plan. We have included quotes from domestic violence (DV) & sexual assault (SA) advocates who were part of this input-gathering process, offering reflection from essential participants in the formation of this Long Range Plan (LRP).

• What are the changes, trends, paradigms, and approaches emerging in the field of DV and SA?
• What innovative approaches would create a Wisconsin that centers the strength of survivors and supports their liberation?

End Abuse and WCASA came together to refocus on the charge, specifically to distill and interpret the information for the development of a LRP. Staff revisited all the data collected throughout the planning process to identify priorities.

Throughout this process, three concepts continued to emerge as priorities: focus on transformative justice, as we divest from criminal legal system responses; center the experiences of those most impacted by violence, specifically BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ communities; and prioritize SA, to meet the distinct needs of survivors by addressing the disparity in funding and focus.

In addition to distilling all of the feedback, our charge centered in these areas. This intentional and collaborative process led to the development of this plan, which would not have been possible without the feedback from stakeholders from across the state.