MARINETTE — As a number of Wisconsin domestic violence and sexual assault programs have seen a reduction in federal funding, Rainbow House Domestic Abuse Services, Inc. is among those reeling from the blow.
While the agency stands to lose $4,000 in county funding, it’s the federal reductions that hurt the most. The agency has lost $120,000 in Victims of Crime Act grant funding for 2024-25, effective Oct. 1. The VOCA grant funds half of the agency’s staffing expenses, while the other primary funder is the Department of Children and Family Services.
“Four thousand dollars seems like a drop in the bucket compared to what we’re losing in federal funding,” said Executive Director Courtney Olson. “We’re left scrambling, trying to figure out how we’re going to fill some of those gaps.”
Rainbow House is the sole domestic violence service provider for Oconto, Florence and Marinette counties, also providing co-advocacy with neighboring Menominee County.
“Should somebody need shelter at two o’clock in the morning, we are the only place in our counties that provides those kinds of services,” she said. “We serve everybody ... Anybody can be a victim of domestic violence regardless of their gender, orientation, age or socio-economic status.”
She said the common misconception is that they are a women’s shelter. She said abuse is genderless.
As a domestic service provider, the agency serves an average of 450 clients annually, by providing clients with: legal counsel, therapy programs, support groups, emergency shelters, rental and utility assistance, and clothing and grocery assistance, among other services.
“We run the gamut from top to bottom of what people need, because we recognize that every individual’s circumstances are different,” she said. “So, every person’s needs are going to be different.”
Olson said the lack of funding has limited what the program can offer its clients.
Pre-COVID, Rainbow House employed 16 staff members, but now only seven remain. The employees have been forced to cut their hours by 10% and the agency has begun closing its doors at noon on Fridays, “because we just can’t afford to keep everybody on full-time anymore.”
Another program affected by the cuts is their newest therapy program. The program provided clients with free and confidential sessions with a licensed therapist but has been put on on hold amidst the financial setbacks.
“Put bluntly: there is not enough funding to meet the basic needs of the domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in Wisconsin,” Olson said. “ ... Wisconsin is among the worst states in the country for victims of domestic violence.”
Shockingly, one in every six domestic violence homicides in the United States is committed in Wisconsin, Olson said, adding that the state is ranked eighth in the nation for the number of women killed by men. Domestic violence homicides are escalating, making the funding cuts only more devastating.
Olson said 2023 was the second highest year for domestic homicide deaths since the state began tracking them in 2000. She wrote the State of Wisconsin’s Domestic Violence Homicide Report, or DVHR, last year and this year, and said the family violence cases in 2023 are the highest since the state began tracking them.
Rainbow House began developing additional programs when they lost a colleague and friend, Patricia Waschbish, in 2013 to domestic violence homicide. The agency serves as the lead author of the annual State of Wisconsin DVHR, providing all of the data analysis and case management.
The agency also coordinates the statewide Lethality Assessment Protocol for officers and advocates who arrive on the scene of a domestic violence incident. This program trains officers to distinguish between high risk and low risk situations.
Additionally, the agency coordinates the state’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative, which is a program of the Wisconsin’s Governor’s Council that looks for cracks in the system that allow for domestic homicide to take place.
More than 40% of all domestic violence homicides occur when victims attempt to leave. Rainbow House makes it easier to leave an abusive relationship by providing access to safety and community resources.
“No victim should have to take the courageous step of leaving an abusive relationship without the safety and support offered by domestic violence victim advocates and organizations,” Olson said. “Yet, at present, Wisconsin is leaving survivors with nowhere to go.”
Wisconsin domestic violence and sexual assault programs are facing a 70% reduction in VOCA grant funding, as of Oct. 1. The Northeastern Wisconsin region of victim service providers — which includes agencies within Marinette, Oconto, Brown, Kewaunee and Door counties — stand to lose $5,367,444 in VOCA funding over three years.
Rainbow House has an outreach office in Oconto County, located next to the Department of Motor Vehicles; a primary shelter and agency on Main Street in downtown Marinette; and the agency works out of the Department of Health and Human Services in Florence to provide support services every other week.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Anyone in a domestically violent relationship, can call the Rainbow House emergency phone line at 715-735-6656. A representative can assist you 24/7, 365 days a year. You may also text 906-290-9081 for help.
Local News
