CHARLESTON — October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month making it a great time to educate the public on resources available to victims and survivors of domestic violence. According to WV Secretary of State Mac Warner, an important and effective resource is the WV Address Confidentiality Program that is hosted and managed by his office.

The Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) is a program designed to help survivors attempting to escape from situations involving domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking. The ACP coordinates mail service with individual participants in the program allowing the participant to do business with government agencies, school and utilities without having to disclose their home address. This was designed to prevent abusers from using public records as a resource to find their victims. The participants in the program can use the provided substitute address in place of their actual home address.

“We like to use the month of October to educate the public on the availability of West Virginia’s Address Confidentiality Program for all victims of domestic violence,” said Secretary of State Mac Warner. “Our ACP is one of the oldest in the country and is a great tool to help protect victims and their families.”

You can learn more about the West Virginia ACP by CLICKING HERE.

West Virginia was a founding member of the National Association of Confidential Address Programs (NACAP) and continues to play a leading role. Other participating states include Arizona, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

All participating states work together by sharing ideas and success stories with the goal of strengthening each program, all while respecting state-specific rules and regulations. Longer-term members like West Virginia also act as a mentor to newer members, sharing best practices and what has worked well in the past.

The WV Address Confidentiality Program is not a crisis center or direct service agency. Rather, it is a tool for victims of abuse to use as part of their overall safety plan. Those seeking more information on the program can call toll-free (866) 767-8683 or you can email the program director at acp@wvsos.gov. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available at (800) 799-SAFE.