Senate enacts Sen. Deschambault bill to ensure access to violence intervention services

AUGUSTA – On Friday, July 2, the Maine Senate unanimously voted to enact a bill from Sen. Susan Deschambault, D-Biddeford, that would ensure access to violence intervention services. LD 1491, “An Act To Ensure Access to and Availability of Violence Intervention Services To Reduce Domestic Violence in Maine,” would allocate $287,500 to the Office of Victim Services in the Department of Corrections. These funds would be used to help indigent participants pay for the Batterers Intervention Program (BIP) class fees.

“As a parent and lawmaker, I want all Maine children and adults to feel safe in their own homes. However, I know that too many Maine children and adults have had to deal with domestic abuse and violence,” said Sen. Deschambault. “To end domestic violence in Maine, we must ensure survivors have access to vital support services and increase access to early intervention services to prevent domestic violence from happening or escalating in the first place. This bill provides a much-needed investment in domestic violence intervention, prevention and reduction to better protect all Mainers.”

“This bill asks you to continue to expand the modest funding that has had significant positive impact and represents the only funding available in Maine to sustain intervention programming for those who have perpetrated domestic abuse and violence,” says Karen Wyman who is the Violence Prevention and Intervention Coordinator at the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence.

During Fiscal Year 2020, the Maine courts had nearly 20,000 filings in the Family Division; of this total, half were for Protection from Abuse and Family Matters Post-Judgment. It has also been widely reported nearly half of the homicides in Maine involved domestic violence.

Angie Alfonso of Partners for Peace said in testimony supporting the bill that, “Living in poverty should not be a barrier for offenders to participate in a program that is court mandated and has the potential to change the frequency and the lethality of abuse and violence in Maine.”

LD 1491 now goes to the desk of Gov. Janet Mills, who has 10 days to sign the bill into law, veto it or allow it to become law without her signature.

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