WisTAF announces 2025-2026 grants to assist survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse

Friday, September 5, 2025

CONTACT: Benson Gardner, communications and development manager, 608-620-0711, bgardner@wistaf.org

The Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, Inc. (WisTAF) will distribute $450,000 to 11 organizations to help people throughout Wisconsin to address civil legal needs related to domestic violence and sexual abuse (DVSA). Legal problems can be a chief barrier to victims' securing safety and independence for themselves and their families.

The grants will go to public interest law firms and other non-profit organizations to provide legal advice, information, and representation to people unable to pay for an attorney. The assistance is particularly valuable because victims are often prevented from accessing their own funds by their abusers.

Many hundreds of survivors and their families are expected to benefit from the DVSA Legal Services grants. Grant recipients help survivors accomplish critical legal tasks, such as securing restraining orders, carrying out divorces, and negotiating child placement and guardianship.

After an open application process, WisTAF's Board of Directors determined the grant amounts for 2025-2026, below. 

The State of Wisconsin created the Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse (DVSA) Civil Legal Services program in 2015. The program taps funds from the federal Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program. Clients in the DSVA program are parents, caretakers of children, or pregnant, with limited incomes or limited access to their own money. WisTAF administers the DVSA program, reporting to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.

The table below shows details of this year's grants. Funds are distributed on a reimbursement basis.