EMERGENCY ESCAPE!(Just In Case)

Sunday, April 8, 2007

ADDRESS CONFIDENTIALITY PROGRAM FOR DV, ABUSE & STALKING VICTIMS

If you or someone you know are a VICTIM
of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault or Stalking, and need to conceal your address . . .

We can help!


Janets' Story*
*Fictional name to protect participant’s identity.

The first few weeks they were dating, Janet's* new boyfriend was charming, interesting and fun. But it didn't take long for her to realize that it was fake. Beneath the surface was someone deviant, controlling and dangerous. She ended the relationship, but he stalked and threatened her. He broke down the door to her apartment.

One night, he kidnapped her and held her captive in his apart-
ment, beating her. Another time, he tried to throw her over a second-story balcony. She did everything the courts told her to do - obtained a protection order, stayed away from him, called the police whenever he contacted her.

"He violated the order 120 times. But because police didn't see him in the act of
stalking me, they didn't do anything," Janet said. "I couldn't go anywhere. He would call. He would text message. He would just show up. Sometimes, he would just sit and watch my apartment."

Eventually, he was arrested, pleaded guilty to 80 violations, and was sentenced to jail for two years. But even as he faced the prospect of prison, he assured Janet that one day, he would be back on the streets and he would find her and kill her.
"And I knew he was serious," she said. For several years, Janet and her three young children moved from state to state, trying to hide. But when he was released from jail and tried to find her again, she was desperate.


She moved to Pennsylvania and, while enrolling her children in school, she was reluctant to transfer her son's school records because she feared her ex-boyfriend might track her through the child's school. She explained her situation to the school principal. "She remembered seeing a memo on the ACP program, and told me, 'You might want to try this,'

Janet said.
Janet was connected with the Office of the Victim Advocate, and became the first Pennsylvanian enrolled in the Address Confidentiality Program (ACP). "The program is good, and the staff was really great to work with," Janet said. Janet also went so far as to change her and her children's names and Social Security numbers to further ensure that her ex-boyfriend couldn’t find them -especially since he's intelligent, has money and is computer savvy.

"I gave up everything - my home, my college degree, my employment, my credit, my
Social Security earnings. Everything. It's like I and my children became dead people and these new people were born in our place," she said, explaining that when she changed her Social Security number, she had to make sure that the Social Security Administration did not link the old and new numbers. "I graduated at the top of my class and had my own business for five years," she said.

"It was a very difficult decision, but it's what I had to do to survive."
Because she was the first in the program, she encountered many hurdles, but she says it was definitely worth it because it saved her life. Janet also helped iron out many of those hurdles for the current and future ACP participants.


"The ACP helped me take that first step to protecting myself and my kids," she explains. "Anyone who can relate to my situation should use it."



North Carolina Attorney General’s Office
Address Confidentiality Program


Providing victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking a way to keep their residential addresses confidential.



North Carolina’s Address Confidentiality Program
9099 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-9099
919.716.6785
acp@ncdoj.com

Attorney General -
State of North Carolina

(NOTE:: North Carolina is one example of approximately 18 states with this program - I will be listing all participating states below - if you are interested in participating check to see if your state participates, and if not, then join us in a campaign to make the program available in all 50 states)

As Attorney General, I’ve made fighting domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking a priority. We’ve worked hard to enact tougher laws for abusers who commit these crimes and we’ve also worked to protect the rights of victims.

As part of these efforts, we created the AddressConfidentiality Program (ACP)
to help victims who’ve moved away from their abuser keep their address confidential.

Even after they’ve taken the initial steps to escape a dangerous situation, many survivors of abuse continue to live in fear. The ACP is an important way to protect survivors and the families, and give them the peace of mind they need to move on with their lives.

IF YOU ARE:
  • A victim of domestic violence,
  • sexual assault or stalking, and
  • you live in a location unknown to your abuser or stalker, and
  • you’re concerned for the safety of yourself and your family . . .
you may be eligible to participate in North Carolina’s

Address Confidentiality Program

WHAT THE ACP CAN DO FOR VICTIMS:

  • Provide an additional layer of protection to increase overall safety.
  • Provide a confidential address service to victims and their families regardless of where they live (in North Carolina) or how many times they move.
  • Provide a cost-free mail forwarding service.
  • Provide an ACP Authorization Card that can be presented when an address is required.

THE ACP CANNOT:

  • Keep the address of a victim who owns real property (house or land) in her/his name out of the public records.
  • Provide legal advice or counseling services.
  • Help a victim get a new name or social security number.
  • Be a victim’s only safety plan.
The ACP is only one part of a participant’s overall safety strategy.

The ACP helps victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking keep their residential addresses confidential and hidden from public view.

When a victim becomes an ACP participant, they are provided with a substitute address.

The substitute address becomes the address of public record and can be used for state and local government services including applying for a North Carolina driver’s
license and enrolling in a public school.

Because program participants use a substitute address, the ACP forwards all first-class, certified or registered mail (except packages and magazine subscriptions) to the program participant at their residential address.


IT’S EASY TO APPLY
• Call the Address Confidentiality Program at 919.716.6785 to obtain the name of a Domestic Violence/ Sexual Assault Program near you.
• Go to the program that was referred to you and meet with an ACP Application Assistant.
• Develop an overall safety plan.
• Discuss ACP guidelines and complete an application with your ACP Application Assistant.
• Submit your application to the ACP for approval, usually within 10 business days.
• Receive an ACP authorization card so you can use the substitute address.

The ACP is a free program administered by the Attorney General’s Office.

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