Coordinated Community Response

WCADV’s core philosophy of a Coordinated Community Response to domestic violence is that domestic violence is a community problem and so requires the entire community to address the issue. Since their inception in Wisconsin in the mid-1980s, Coordinated Community Response (CCR) teams have brought together key players in community systems, usually on a county-wide basis, to develop strategies and procedures in systems response to domestic violence and sexual assault.

Many CCR teams begin with the criminal process in their coordination, but that is only one small piece of the community. Because the court is not a system that all victims choose to use, an effective CCR team will include members from schools, mental health and other health care providers, neighborhood centers, faith communities, county extension agencies, ethnic organizations, and many other groups. CCR must go beyond the legal system to truly create a wide network of support for victims, especially regarding communities of color, people with disabilities, and elders.

Each CCR team creates its own specific goals, but most CCRs have goals around these key areas:

• Ensure a victim-centered response to violence and access to community resources
• Hold offenders accountable
• Ensure all communities, including underserved populations, affected by domestic violence have a voice and access to culturally appropriate responses
• Promote a collective position on awareness of domestic violence as a community problem and a community responsibility to prevent domestic violence

Click to view all CCR Resources