Maine DV prevention nonprofit gets $550G federal grant

AUGUSTA - The Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence has been given a $550,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to implement a Justice for Families program in Maine.

This three-year grant will help establish free supervised visitation and safe exchange services in Androscoggin County, where these services currently do not exist, despite a demonstrated high demand for them; and it will provide Maine's family court professionals with nationally recognized training and tools to improve screening for domestic abuse and violence and help our family courts produce safer and more workable outcomes for Maine families.

"The safety of children is a priority for everyone intervening in domestic abuse and violence: the parent caring for the children, the advocates helping navigate pathways to safety, the guardians ad litem bringing information to the court, the attorneys attending to the legal rights of both parents, and the judges issuing parental rights and responsibilities orders with long lasting impact for everyone in the family," said Francine Garland Stark, MCEDV's Executive Director. "We hope that this project will support the resilience of children throughout our state whose young lives have been disrupted by abuse imposed by the adults in their lives."

Grant partner Home to Home has been offering supervised visitation programs in Brunswick since 2012, and will begin offering these services in Androscoggin County. This will provide the opportunity for more families who need supervised visitation services, due to a Protection from Abuse order or family court order resulting from one parent's domestic violence or abuse toward the other parent and/or child(ren), the ability to access such services at no cost, and close to home.

"After 25 years of service in the Midcoast area, Home To Home is honored to be a partner in the Justice for Families Grant, making possible the expansion of our supervised visitation model of affordable and accessible supervised visitations. In partnership with Safe Voices and St. Mary's Hospital, we look forward to having an expanded presence in Androscoggin County as an impactful first step in larger plan that strives to provide opportunities for all Maine children to have positive, safe, conflict-free access to their noncustodial parents," said Annie Sarbanis, Home to Home's Program Coordinator.