Dane County commission identifies service gaps for older adults, people with disabilities, children and domestic-violence survivors

Dana [last name not specified], chair of the Dane County Commission on Sensitive Crimes, told a joint meeting of the county Policy, Public Safety & Justice and Health and Human Needs committees on May 22 that the commission’s coordinated community response teams are identifying critical gaps in services for victims across elder abuse, intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), child abuse and neglect, and domestic violence and sexual assault (DV/SA).

The commission, created by a Dane County ordinance as an advisory body, compiled recommendations that range from restoring mobile mental-health outreach for older adults to expanding forensic accounting for financial exploitation and creating accessible shelter and housing options for victims, Dana said. “We are dealing with victims and so ensuring that we have been able to work with county executive to get new members in as appropriate for the ordinance,” Dana said.

Why it matters: county and nonprofit providers reported recent, steep drops in some federal and foundation funding and long waitlists for clinical services, reducing capacity at a time advocates say need is growing. Committee members and staff discussed how those shortfalls affect emergency housing, mental-health follow-up and services for people with complex needs.

Elder-abuse needs: The commission defined elder abuse consistent with its ordinance as mistreatment of anyone age 60 or older…