VPC staff highlight the cost of domestic violence in Cook County
The Violence Prevention Center invited community leaders to a strategic planning meeting to discuss the next three to five years and the organization’s needs to continue making an impact in the community.
County Commissioner Ann Sullivan attended the meeting and highlighted the Violence Prevention Center’s work during the July Public Health and Human Services board meeting.
“One of the things I thought was particularly fascinating in relationship to public health and human services, and the county organization in general, is their analysis of the victims they served and the financial impact to our county that that organization has made,” Sullivan said during the meeting.
The cost of sexual and domestic violence is wide-ranging. Whether using law enforcement resources to respond to calls, hospital or clinic costs for exams and injuries, or county resources for social and judicial services, the cost of what is often considered a personal issue can impact an entire community.
“So if you look at different areas, health care, education, the workforce and our individual finances, in one year in health care, there were a total of 488 medical visits to the hospital as a result of domestic violence, and on average, each of those visits costs $4,000 generally, 30 percent of violence requires medical care,” VPC Director Sara Mowchan told WTIP. “The total cost to medical employers in one year is just over a million dollars in Cook County, which is also really significant that most of those costs are coming out of our tax dollars.”
The price of domestic and sexual violence might even grow larger. With Medicaid benefits uncertain in the future, more care could go uncovered, resulting in providers taking on the cost of treating survivors.
“When people are going for forensic sexual assault exams, that’s a direct cost. I think it’s about $1,400 per sexual assault exam that right now is billed to the state. It used to be billed directly to the county. The funding pool that the state is using to cover that is potentially at risk. So there is that possibility in the future that it could come back to be a county responsibility to cover that cost,” Program Advocate Jessica Burks told WTIP.
The VPC is hoping to raise awareness and make domestic and sexual violence a public health issue rather than a personal issue. The organization’s work is often confidential and more challenging to recognize in the community.
“This is something that happens behind closed doors and out of our public awareness,” Mowchan said. “But the truth is, it’s a very public issue, and it’s very much a community issue.”
This strategic planning meeting comes as the VPC anticipates losing federal funding from the Victims of Crime Act by 2027.
“Domestic Violence advocacy is also one of the most underfunded areas, and is being more actively defunded as we speak,” Burks said.
“As a county commissioner, what I can say is that upon close examination of medical and mental health costs, as well as loss of productivity in the workplace due to domestic/sexual violence, that our VPC provides services that reduce both harm and costs to the people of Cook County,” Sullivan told WTIP. “The work the VPC does decreases costs incurred through both our local sheriff’s and attorneys’ budgets by providing education and prevention.”
Those who are interested in supporting the VPC can do so by making donations or volunteering through the organization’s website.
WTIP spoke with Violence Prevention Center Director, Sara Mowchan and Program Advocate Jessica Burks. The audio of that conversation can be found below.
Josh Hinke August 13, 2025
