The Third Branch
Grants boost First District partnership on supervised visitation and safe exchange
The city of Milwaukee's Office of Violence Prevention received a nearly $400,000 grant from the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) for a Safe Exchange/Visitation program. The partners are the city of Milwaukee, Sojourner Family Peace Center, Children's Hospital of Milwaukee-Community Services and the First Judicial District.
Deputy Chief Judge Maxine A. White, Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Michael J. Dwyer and First Judicial District Deputy Court Administrator Beth Bishop Perrigo are members of the core planning group for the grant. "We are grateful to the city of Milwaukee for pursuing this funding and allowing the Milwaukee courts to be a partner," said White. "We do not currently have access to such services and we have a large need."
This first year is a planning process and it is the hope of the city of Milwaukee to begin providing visitation services in the fall of 2013. With expertise gained through the assistance of OVW, a strong development team, and the ability to leverage resources in the future, the city hopes to replicate safe exchange sites in other Milwaukee County locations.
Additionally, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Community Services has received total funds of nearly $50,000 primarily from the Children's Trust Fund for safe exchange of children in family cases. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin has more than a decade of experience administering supervised visitation services for families involved in the child welfare system in Wisconsin. The program site is located within the Parklawn Family Resource Center, where services were implemented in February.