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Michele Meyer is serving her fourth term in the Maine House of Representatives. She represents Eliot, part of Kittery and part of South Berwick and is House chair of the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee.
No woman, no child, no family — no one — should live in fear. Every person has a right to a safe, self-determined life free of violence. But here in Maine, domestic violence is a leading threat to safety. Year after year, roughly half of all homicides in our state are a result of domestic violence. The same is true for reported assaults.
Despite how serious and widespread domestic violence is, Maine’s frontline response services — our domestic violence resource centers — are underfunded and short-staffed. The Legislature has an opportunity to make homes across our state safer by prioritizing these essential services in this year’s supplemental budget bill.
Abusive relationships can be extremely complex situations, and it takes enormous courage to escape. Domestic violence resource centers provide the safety and support that make it possible for many of those trapped by abusive partners to find their way to a life free from the trauma of abuse. With the compassion and expertise of resource center staff, survivors — often with their children in tow — are able to take a leap of faith from the violence that defined their very existence into hope and opportunity.
These centers offer shelter, counseling and crisis intervention for more than 12,000 survivors across Maine each year. The services, including a statewide toll-free helpline, are free, confidential and available 24/7.
Maine’s domestic violence resource centers also serve as critical partners to law enforcement, child protective services and our district courts. Without these partnerships, these systems would be less effective in their responses to domestic violence, which are often their most complex cases.
As a survivor of domestic violence, I personally know the difference that domestic violence response services make. But without adequate, ongoing and reliable funding to support these essential services, we will not be able to sustain them, and survivors will lose access to the critical support and resources necessary for healing, rebuilding and thriving.
For context, state funding for domestic violence services has not increased for seven years, and that was preceded by 20 years of flat funding. Since then, costs have gone up exponentially, including the labor costs to employ the highly-trained advocates needed to staff the centers and helpline, as well as the operational costs of running the centers and shelters themselves. At the same time, federal funding for these services has declined.
This flat funding combined with a stark drop in volunteers has already resulted in painful cuts to services and the time advocates can spend with each survivor. The contract through Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services currently funds nearly 40 fewer trained advocates than the state did in 2019, representing a 27% decrease in this essential workforce. Domestic violence services in our state have reached a precarious point, and it is up to the Legislature to prioritize the solution.
I am proud to have led legislative efforts to increase funding for these essential services as sponsor of LD 875 and of the unanimous, bipartisan call from my colleagues on the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee for this funding to be prioritized in the budget for two years in a row. Gov. Janet Mills’ most recent budget proposal also recognizes the vital importance of these services.
We must continue to work to ensure increased, ongoing funds are provided in the supplemental budget to support these services and, most importantly, the survivors and children who are counting on them.
Funding for domestic violence services is homicide prevention, and it is our moral responsibility to some of our most vulnerable community members. Our domestic violence resource centers provide a safe, stable new beginning that simply exists nowhere else. It is imperative that ongoing funding is included in the supplemental budget.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, help is available. Visit www.mcedv.org/get-help or call the statewide domestic violence helpline to be connected with support near you: 1-866-834-HELP (4357).
