Many states now require all adults or all persons to report suspected child abuse.

Wisconsin still relies on limited mandated reporter categories, leaving gaps where adults may suspect abuse but not have a clear legal duty to report.

Wisconsin still relies on specific mandated reporter categories, while many states require all adults or all persons to report suspected child abuse.

Why this matters: When reporting duties depend on a person’s legal category, suspected abuse can fall into silence when adults are unsure whether they are required to act.

Sources: Wisconsin Mandated Reporter Law · Child Welfare Information Gateway Mandatory Reporters · State Reporting Laws

Churches, schools, and child serving organizations should be held to the highest standards of child protection because they hold some of the deepest public trust. They should face serious accountability when they fail to report, ignore warning signs, silence survivors, or protect their reputation over children.

Yet Wisconsin leaves significant discretion to individual law enforcement agencies and detectives, with limited oversight and no automatic pathway requiring broader review by Child Advocacy Centers or prosecutors when reports involve potential child abuse within trusted institutions.

Why this matters: Institutional silence can preserve access to children, protect reputations over safety, and prevent broader review of serious concerns.

Sources: Wisconsin Clergy Reporting Law · Child Advocacy Center Models · Project Worth Institutional Accountability Research

Wisconsin CPS does not accept reports from adult survivors of childhood abuse.

This is a serious child safety failure. Adult survivor reports can reveal current risk, especially when the alleged offender still has access to children.

Illinois DCFS centrally logged Kerri’s report of abuse that primarily occurred in Wisconsin from 2010 to 2012. Wisconsin CPS has no record of it.

Adult survivor reports should be accepted, logged, retained, and reviewed for patterns.

Learn more on The Spark →

Wisconsin CPS does not provide a clear intake pathway for adult survivors reporting childhood abuse, even when the alleged offender may still have access to children.

Why this matters: Adult survivor reports can reveal current risk, repeat offenders, and patterns that children may not be able to report themselves.

Sources: Wisconsin DCF CPS Process · Illinois DCFS Reporting · The Spark

Many states have higher penalties when people who work or volunteer with children fail to report suspected child abuse.

Wisconsin needs stronger consequences for child serving adults who fail to report. A person trusted with access to children should face serious accountability when their silence leaves children at risk.

Wisconsin needs stronger consequences when child serving adults fail to report suspected abuse, especially when their silence allows continued access to children.

Why this matters: Adults who work or volunteer with children hold special trust and should face meaningful accountability when they fail to act on safety concerns.

Sources: Wisconsin Mandated Reporter Law · Child Welfare Information Gateway Penalties · State Reporting Laws

Many states recognize that power imbalances do not automatically end when a young person turns 18.

Washington criminalizes sexual misconduct by a school employee with an enrolled student ages 16 to 21 when the employee is at least 60 months older. Texas criminalizes improper relationships between educators and students, including adult students.

Wisconsin’s protections are still centered on minors. Wisconsin should recognize authority based sexual abuse involving young adults when the offender holds power as a teacher, coach, clergy member, mentor, youth leader, or other trusted authority figure.

Many states recognize that authority and coercive control can continue after a young person turns 18, especially in schools, churches, coaching, mentoring, and youth leadership settings.

Why this matters: Power imbalances do not disappear at adulthood, and young adults can still be vulnerable to abuse by trusted authority figures.

Sources: Washington Sexual Misconduct Law · Texas Educator Relationship Law · Project Worth Policy Research

Illinois has removed criminal and civil statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse. Wisconsin has not.

Wisconsin still places time limits on survivors seeking justice, including civil claims that can be barred at age 35 and criminal gaps depending on the charge.

That is the issue.

These deadlines ignore grooming, trauma, delayed disclosure, institutional betrayal, and the reality that many survivors are not ready or able to pursue justice within the state’s timeline.

Minnesota recognized that past survivors were failed and opened a lookback window. Wisconsin should do the same.

Survivors should not be timed out of justice while offenders and institutions are protected by the clock.

Wisconsin still has time limits that can prevent survivors from pursuing criminal or civil justice, including civil claims that may be barred at age 35.

Why this matters: Deadlines often ignore grooming, trauma, delayed disclosure, institutional betrayal, and the reality that many survivors need years before they can seek justice.

Sources: Wisconsin Statutes · Illinois Childhood Sexual Abuse Limitations · Minnesota Child Victims Act

Civil accountability can be difficult in Wisconsin when cases involve grooming, abuse of authority, delayed disclosure, or institutional patterns that do not fit neatly within existing precedent.

In Kerri’s case, Illinois offered a stronger civil pathway than Wisconsin, even though the reported abuse occurred primarily in Wisconsin.

Project Worth supports stronger survivor centered civil protections, including clearer pathways for grooming based child abuse claims, stronger institutional accountability, and higher recoverable damages for child abuse cases.

Financial harms like fraud, property damage, or business disputes can have clearer recovery pathways than grooming based child abuse. Survivors deserve legal pathways that reflect the seriousness and lifelong impact of abuse.

Illinois and Minnesota allow many civil childhood sexual abuse claims to be brought at any time, and Minnesota previously created a Child Victims Act lookback window for expired claims.

Wisconsin civil pathways can be difficult when cases involve grooming, authority abuse, delayed disclosure, or institutional patterns that do not fit neatly within existing precedent.

Why this matters: Survivors deserve legal pathways that reflect the seriousness and lifelong impact of grooming based child abuse and institutional failure.

Sources: Illinois Civil Law · Minnesota Child Victims Act · Project Worth Civil Accountability Research

Recoverable damages in child abuse cases should reflect the lifelong harm survivors carry.

Wisconsin should pursue the highest recoverable damages possible in child abuse cases, both civilly and criminally, so survivors are not left carrying the cost while offenders and institutions avoid meaningful accountability.

🏛️ Low damages can weaken accountability

Recoverable damages in child abuse cases should reflect the lifelong financial, emotional, and personal harm survivors may carry.

Why this matters: Low recoverable damages can weaken accountability and leave survivors carrying the cost while offenders and institutions avoid meaningful consequences.

Sources: Wisconsin Civil Remedies · Survivor Justice Research · Project Worth Policy Research

Wisconsin needs stronger grooming awareness and prevention training in schools, churches, nonprofits, youth programs, and child serving organizations.

Grooming should be recognized before abuse escalates, not explained away after a child has already been harmed.

Wisconsin needs stronger grooming awareness and prevention training in schools, churches, nonprofits, youth programs, and child serving organizations.

Why this matters: Grooming should be recognized before abuse escalates, not explained away after a child has already been harmed.

Sources: NSVRC · EVAWI · Grooming Prevention Research

Wisconsin child protective systems largely focus on abuse and neglect involving parents, caregivers, and family settings.

That leaves major gaps when abuse involves churches, schools, youth programs, coaches, volunteers, mentors, or other trusted adults outside the home.

Wisconsin child protective systems largely focus on parents, caregivers, and family settings, leaving weaker pathways when abuse involves trusted adults outside the home.

Why this matters: Children are also harmed in schools, churches, youth programs, and other trusted spaces where adults may hold access, authority, and influence.

Sources: Wisconsin DCF CPS Process · Child Welfare Information Gateway · Project Worth Policy Research

Wisconsin’s systems are too reactive.

Child protection should not wait until harm is repeated, public, severe, or impossible to deny. Wisconsin needs prevention, early reporting, pattern tracking, adult survivor reporting, grooming recognition, and serious accountability before more children are harmed.

Wisconsin’s child protection systems often respond after harm has escalated instead of focusing on prevention, pattern tracking, and earlier intervention.

Why this matters: Child protection should not wait until harm is repeated, public, severe, or impossible to deny before systems act.

Sources: Wisconsin DCF CPS Process · Child Welfare Information Gateway · Project Worth Prevention Research