Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin's Approaches to Interrupting the Cycle of Violence

Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin’s (CHOW) concern for violence prevention dates back to the 1980s when child abuse cases started presenting in the emergency departmentwith hundreds of cases monthly. The hospital staff were trained to deal with acute injuries and their presence in the ER had the potential to re-traumatize the children. In the early 1990s, an increasing number of teenagers were repeatedly coming to the emergency room with violence-related injuries like gunshot and stab wounds. Hospital staff recognized that these incidents of violence were not isolated and that the child’s entire family was at risk for experiencing violence. The CHOW goal was to prevent and break the circle of violence by setting up a network of child advocacy centers to address violence at the family level, eliminate repeated injuries and help family members cope. 1 [2]