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Safe at Home: A Confidential Address Program. ROVAC Fall Conference Secretary of the State September 12, 2013. Safe at Home: Confidential Address.
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Safe at Home: A Confidential Address Program ROVAC Fall Conference Secretary of the State September 12, 2013
Safe at Home: Confidential Address Policy Goals: Victims of domestic violence and sexual assault need a safe home and a safe shelter with an address that cannot be tracked through the use of public records. The Secretary of the State provides a substitute mailing address for any person who has been the victim of family violence, injury or risk of injury to a child, sexual assault or stalking. Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) provided services to nearly 58,000 victims of domestic violence last year. Connecticut Sexual Assault Services served over 7,000 victims of sexual assault.
Legislation • Sec. 54-240g. Listing on voter registry list. A program participant may request to be listed on a voter registry list without the participant’s street and house number by presenting the participant’s certification card to the authorized personnel for the office of the registrar of voters for the municipality in which the participant is eligible to vote, or has applied for such eligibility. Upon such request, the registrar of voters shall list the participant by name only in accordance with subsection (d) of section 9-35. Such registrar shall keep the participant’s confidential address confidential and shall not make such address available for inspection or copying, except (1) if requested by a law enforcement agency, to the law enforcement agency, (2) if directed by a court order, to a person identified in such order, or (3) if notified by the Secretary of the State that the program participant’s certification has been cancelled. (P.A. 03-200, S. 8.) History: P.A. 03-200 effective January 1, 2004.
Safe at Home • 1. You have recently moved or plan to move and you want to keep your new address confidential. • 2. Contact your local domestic violence or sexual assault crisis center to schedule an in-person appointment to apply. • 3. Once your application is completed at one of the centers, it is mailed it to the Office of the Secretary of the State to be reviewed and certified. • 4. Each program participant is given a Certification Card with a new substitute address (dedicated PO Box with a 30 Trinity Street address). Local and state agencies must accept the substitute address. Private companies, such as utility companies, telephone providers are not required to accept the address but many do once they realize why it is important.
Safe at Home • 5. The registrars of voters are required to list the participant on the voter registry list without the street address. The town clerk is required to keep marriage records confidential if requested. The program housed in our offices forwards all first-class mail from the PO Box to the participant’s actual residential address. • 6. The Safe at Home address is effective for four years, at which point the application can be renewed if necessary by the participant.
Safe at Home • Since 2004 we have protected the addresses of 300 victims/survivors of sexual assault, stalking or domestic violence. Currently we have 200 voters in the Safe at Home program. • Our office regularly conducts training on ACP with the counselor advocates who provide services to domestic violence victims through the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV).
