A new report shows fewer people are calling Chicago’s domestic violence hotline, 1-877-863-6338, for help. Jennifer Welch is with the city’s Department of Family and Support Services. She says the department received almost 30,000 calls in 2010, down seven percent from the previous year.

“I would very much like to draw the conclusion that we were ending domestic violence and this was the beginning of the end of domestic violence, but I’m not that optimistic,” Welch said. “I’m afraid that it simply means that we have a few less callers this year than last year.”

Welch said the police department deals with hundreds of domestic violence calls each day. She also said her department gets more reports of domestic violence during the months of August and September than the rest of the year.