History of Maine’s Movement
1977: Maine Coalition for Family Crisis Services (MCFCS) is established. The name is changed in 1999 to Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence.
1980: Maine State Legislature enacts “An Act Concerning Abuse Between Family or Household Members” for victims of DV, establishing access to civil Protection from Abuse Orders and passing legislation allocating the first state funds to support domestic violence services.
1984: The Family Violence Prevention and Service Act is passed, establishing the first federal funding to support domestic violence programs. MCEDV members begin receiving a mix of state and federal funds. Subsequent federal legislation added resources to our work in 1985 (Victims of Crime Act) and 1994 (Violence Against Women Act).
1995: The Maine Legislature establishes the Commission on Domestic Abuse (aka, “the Commission”) to advise and assist the branches of state government on issues related to domestic abuse, designating a seat for MCEDV. The commission is expanded and renamed in 2001 to the Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse.
1997: The Maine Legislature requires the Commission to establish the Domestic Abuse Homicide Review Panel, charged with reviewing the “deaths of persons who are killed by family or household members.” MCEDV is an active participant in the panel from its inception.
2001: The Maine Legislature passes “Violence Intervention and Prevention” bill to increase funding to domestic violence and sexual assault services for first time in 16 years. 50% of the funds were never allocated due to the financial downturn following the 9/11 crisis.
2006: MCEDV receives a federal grant from the Office on Violence Against Women to establish the Domestic Violence/Child Protective Services Liaison Program in collaboration with the Maine Department of Health & Human Services. It’s the first time a program involving DVRC advocates across the state has been so directly coordinated out of the statewide office.
2012: MCEDV supports passage of law requiring use of a standardized risk assessment tool, the Ontario Domestic Abuse Risk Assessment (ODARA), to inform prosecutors and the court regarding DV defendants’ risks of reoffending. We also conduct a survey of DV survivors, in which 73% report having been strangled by a partner. The survey leads to statutory recognition of strangulation as a method of aggravated assault, and to ongoing multidisciplinary training for legal and medical health responders.
2016: The Commission publishes report re: the effectiveness of domestic violence intervention programs for those who have committed DV crimes. The report leads to statutory changes that improve referrals by the courts and allocate first-ever state funds to the programs, which offset fees for indigent participants and support MCEDV to provide coordination and training.
2017: Maine’s Department of Health & Human Services consolidates contracts with the Domestic Violence Resource Centers into a single contract with MCEDV; DVRCs become subrecipients for state and federal funds administered through that contract. MCEDV changes its structure, establishing a community-based governance Board of Directors for the first time.
2019: MCEDV publishes a report to the legislature on the impact of economic abuse in cases of domestic abuse. The report leads to the expansion of economic protections available to survivors under the law. We also advocate with the legislature for the first increase in state funds for domestic violence and sexual assault services since 2002: $2.5 million per year, split between domestic violence and sexual assault services.
2020: MCEDV supported its membership through the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining core services through what became a sustained increase in demand for crisis response. Also in 2020, we launch the MCEDV Training Institute, formalizing the substantial breadth and depth of training offered by coalition staff – often in collaboration with the membership — into a cohesive program.
2023: With funds from the Department of Housing & Urban Development, MCEDV establishes the Rapid Rehousing Program, through which rent is paid for survivors in partnership with the regional DVRCs and funds advocates at those DVRCs to provide housing navigation and supportive services.
2025: MCEDV faced new threats to federal funding, which has long funded the majority of services for domestic violence in Maine.
2026: MCEDV successfully achieves a one-time increase of $2 million in state funding from the Maine Legislature.
