Respite Care as a Strategy to
Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect

Wisconsin spends $8.07 million to protect our children from abuse and neglect and 83 times as much - $673.3 million - to repair the damage done by abuse and neglect.

According to the report on Child Abuse and Neglect, there were 40,917 reports of suspected child maltreatment in 2005 in Wisconsin. In approximately 20% of the reported cases, investigators found evidence that a child had been abused or neglected. That's 8,148 children, or an average of 23 children per day in Wisconsin.

In April of 2004, Governor Doyle convened a summit of 160 Wisconsin leaders to begin work on a State Call to Action to end child abuse and neglect. During the two-day summit, those leaders joined the Governor to discuss strategies to prevent child maltreatment.

Over the next year, 6 workgroups involving dozens of individuals further refined strategies for prevention. Respite Care was identified in the workgroups as a priority strategy for prevention.

Learn more about the Governor's Call to Action.

Respite Care Association of Wisconsin, in partnership with the Children's Trust Fund, has established 5 regional pilot projects using respite care as a strategy for the prevention of the initial occurrence of child abuse and neglect.

The Lead Agencies for the project and the counties served are:

• Green Lake County Department of Health and Human Services, serving Green Lake, Marquette, and Waushara Counties
• Childrens Service Society of Wisconsin, serving Milwaukee, Waukesha and Washington Counties
• Family Connections of Southwest Wisconsin, serving Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Counties
• Green County Human Services Department, serving Green, Iowa and Lafayette Counties
• New Horizons North, serving Ashland, Bayfield and Sawyer Counties