The year 2025 was the 28th year of our Compulsive Gambling Public Awareness Campaign. It was our 32nd year in operation and the 29th year of the 24-hour Helpline. The Council continued to see tremendous growth during the past year.
The Public Awareness Campaign contains six different project areas used to enhance the awareness of Problem and Compulsive Gambling. These areas include the 24-hour Helpline, Recovery Programming, High School Educational Curriculum, Statewide Compulsive Gambling Awareness Conference, our Public Relations Media Awareness Campaign, and the Training of Human Service Professionals.
The Helpline received 14,911 calls in 2025 with the highest months of calls being January with 1,654 contacts. We continue to receive many hits to our website annually. We received 21,869 web hits in 2025. The highest month was September with 9,211 hits. The average debt amount of calls to the Helpline was $19,269. However, many people refuse to divulge this information and are confused about their indebtedness. Area code 414 received the most calls. During the year 2025, 845 referrals were made and 17 packets of information were sent. The chat line received 88chats and the text line received 39 texts.
The WCPG provides an Outreach Program. This program provides educational sessions to high school students around the state. The goal of the program is to provide education and awareness on gambling disorders. Students learn the definitions of gambling, the risks associated with gambling, the warning signs and how to get help for themselves or others. Due to the staffing shortage, the Outreach program did not hold any presentations.
The WCPG hosted its 26th Annual Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling Statewide Conference on March 20-21, 2025 at Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center in Onalaska, WI. Sixty-seven people attended the two day conference.
The WCPG hosted a 6-hour Intro training, six 90-minute webinars, a 4-hour Ethics training, and one 60-hour training program divided into four 15-hour sessions in 2025. Seventy-nine training units were provided through our training sessions. We offered a total of 12 training courses with 121 attendees during 2025.
We continue to develop a list of all persons/agencies within the state of Wisconsin qualified to provide training, education, treatment or public information at various levels, for use by such groups as Employee Assistance Programs, human resource personnel, AODA personnel, school counselors, treatment providers and civic and church groups.
WCPG has started a Recovery Outreach program. The committee continues to define it’s goals and begin outreach to recovery programs and other resources.
Through the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino Sponsorship, we were able to provide Session I through Session IV in the Milwaukee area. The Potawatomi funding also helps with the operation of the 24-hour Helpline and Conference 2025 sponsorship.
WCPG had a very challenging and productive 2025. We will continue to move forward in all of our endeavors, and we look forward to continuing and expanding our programs in the year 2026.