Our Mission

To provide services and promote an environment free of physical violence, assault, abuse, and restriction of personal liberty. CIS respects the worth, dignity and uniqueness of the individual and supports these values through education, personal growth, self-reliance and self-determination.

What Does CIS Do?

Crisis Intervention Services (CIS) helps victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and their children cope with the initial crisis and aftermath of these violent crimes. CIS began providing services in Park County, Wyoming in January 1982. CIS has expanded its services over the years to include 2 full time offices (1 in Cody and 1 in Powell), outreach to Meeteetse, Garland, Clark, Crandall, Wapiti and parts of Yellowstone.  CIS also provides a 9-bed shelter for victims and their children in Powell.

CIS has determined domestic violence to be an identified cause of poverty and homelessness in Park County Wyoming. 75 to 85% of all CIS clients are unemployed. These unemployed clients that choose to leave their abusive homes, in favor of a violence-free lifestyle, generally face impending homelessness and poverty. In addition to a lack of income necessary to achieve self-sufficiency, these domestic violence clients are subject to a myriad of problems that include various employment barriers and gaps in the local community infrastructure. Barriers to unemployment for CIS clients include a lack of job skills and transportation, but also center around the perpetrator’s unwillingness to allow the victim of domestic violence to strive for, achieve and/or maintain self-sufficiency. Most victims of domestic violence are forced to quit school and jobs to focus their attention on the batterers wants and wishes. Additionally, many victims of domestic violence are fired from their jobs due to a lack of understanding of the dynamics of domestic violence by employers. When victims leave, batterer’s will stalk their victims at places of employment and call frequently during the day to “check up on” their victim. Other tactics used involve sleep deprivation and mind games to keep the victim from focusing on work and the task at hand. All efforts are focused on getting the victim to assume that they cannot survive without the perpetrator and to keep them from attaining self-sufficiency.

While these problems may seem insurmountable, CIS has consistently provided a concerted effort to educate its clients, employers and the public at large regarding these issues since 1982. Through its education efforts with clients, CIS identifies the elements of healthy and unhealthy relationships. By doing so, CIS is striving to help CIS clients to understand that the learned conduct of the “cycle of violence” perpetuated in families, is wrong. In its place, CIS is promoting healthy relationships and the benefits of self-sufficiency. By teaching families to avoid the conduct of law breakers, CIS is making strides towards the achievement of ending the “cycle of violence” that is, the learned behavior that leads to broken homes and poverty.

Every year, approximately 90% of CIS clients make less than $17,000 per year (75% to 85% of those were unemployed and made $0.00 as homemakers). CIS intends to provide direct client services to CIS domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking clients in CIS shelters as well as to CIS court-ordered and voluntary Supervised Visitation and Custody Exchange clients. Services are provided on an individual basis during regular office hours as well as at weekly Support Group meetings.