Abuse victims focus of initiative Act would protect mailing addresses

Victims of domestic violence may be better protected from their abusers if Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky can convince the Legislature to sign on to a program that will help keep addresses of abuse victims confidential.

Gwadosky testified Tuesday before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, urging members to support a bill that would establish an Address Confidentiality Program in the state.

With no price tag attached and safety as the primary focus, Gwadosky said committee members appeared receptive to the idea.

The legislation, initiated by the Secretary of State’s Office, is designed to help victims who have relocated and are attempting to escape their abusers. The program would provide participants with a designated mailing address to use when obtaining services from municipal and state agencies. First-class mail sent to the designated address would be forward by the Secretary of State’s Office to the participant’s actual mailing address.

“The beauty of the thing is its simplicity,” Gwadosky said.

Several domestic violence advocates supported the measure before the committee, telling stories of the frustrations experienced when a woman can be tracked by her abuser.

The Address Confidentiality Program would establish one set of procedures and one central location for use by all state and municipal agencies. The Secretary of State’s Office would administer the program and forward all first-class mail received at the designated address, a post office box, and treat that address as it would the address of any resident with whom the agency does business.

“As the official record keeper of many official state documents and activities, the Address Confidentiality Program is a natural extension of our current duties and would be a valuable service to those who chose to participate in it,” said Gwadosky.

Individuals wanting to participate in the program would have to complete an application and would be reviewed to ensure that the program would be appropriate for the particular situation.

Similar programs have been established in 11 other states: Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Washington, Nevada and California.

Francine Starks, community response and training coordinator for Spruce Run Association in Bangor, said there may not be huge numbers of people lining up to participate in the program, but said it could be an important service to those who need it.

Many shelters across the state provide a similar service, but Starks said many people who need help don’t go through a shelter.

“We do allow people in transition to use our post office box as their address until they get set up. One potential problem here is that it can be a bit of a challenge trying to keep up with their addresses because often these people are moving around a lot until they finally get settled. Someone will have to keep up with that,” she said.

Gwadosky said he expected that the job of picking up the mail from the post office, bundling it up and forwarding it on to the right people at their real address would become the responsibility of someone already working in the office.

Based on other states, Gwadosky said he would expect that the state might see about 50 people enrolled in the program over the next couple of years.

“Eventually, if it grows, we may need to seek funding. But Vermont, for example, I think gets some money for their program from a federal victims fund,” he said. “This program may only affect a small number of Maine citizens, however, the effect on those who do participate will be profound.”

Starks said there were many ways that abusers can find their wives or girlfriends who are trying to escape them. Sometimes it’s as simple as looking at a public court record. Gwadosky’s program will allow an abuse victim to use a post office box that’s not in the town they live in for all of their regular business such as utility bills, court mailings and even credit cards and yet be assured that their mail will be forwarded to them, Gwadosky said.