Since 1996 the work of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council has expanded greatly. In the beginning we primarily focused on adult partner abuse. We now address child abuse, youth dating violence, adult partner abuse, elder abuse, and suicide. We have expanded from our focus on community awareness to include a focus on community engagement in preventing interpersonal violence. Finally, we have expanded our work with professionals from protocol development and education to expanding local services that are available to victims and perpetrators of interpersonal violence.

In 2005 we became the first site in the Midwest to begin the Front Porch Project®, an initiative of American Humane which trains community members to become more aware of situations that may lead to child neglect or abuse and to take actions to help.

In 2006 we were able to work with other agencies to procure funding to open five supervised visitation and safe exchange centers for families who have experienced domestic violence, a service that had not existed in our area before.

In 2007 we were able to have ten local residents trained in QPR (question, persuade and refer), which trains community members to recognize warning signs associated with suicide and take action to help. During that same year we also developed a social marketing campaign to address Shaken Baby Syndrome.