PHOENIX — A little-known state program is responsible for saving countless Arizonans' lives, and for as long as it's been around, it's been at risk.
It seemed like the start of something good when Katie began dating her childhood friend after a divorce from her ex-husband. Dealing with illness as a single mother of two and coming out of a marriage she describes as being rife with financial abuse and manipulation, Katie felt she could lean on the man she had known for the last 20 years.
ABC15 is not identifying Katie in this story for her protection.
Her circumstances quickly changed, though, when her boyfriend's mother died. The man she had known left, and as Katie puts it, "his addiction took over."
Soon, the abuse began.
Pregnant, though not yet aware of it, Katie says she was injured by her boyfriend, leading to her shoulder being broken. Like so many survivors of abuse, Katie tried to rationalize what someone she loved had done to her.
"I was so sick, my bones were so feeble, I told myself that the reason my shoulder was broken was because I was sick," she recalled.
The abuse didn't stop, even if it wasn't an everyday occurrence. There were good days, she recalls. One day, however, Katie's boyfriend attempted to strangle her. It was the final straw. He was charged with - and later pled guilty to - aggravated assault impeding breathing.
Even with a guilty plea, Katie's now ex-boyfriend was only put on probation, which he quickly absconded. He began showing up at Katie's house regularly, sometimes even breaking in, leading to police chases. In one case, a helicopter was called in to try to track down her ex-boyfriend.
"He had a warrant for his probation and no matter how many times I said don't come... he would show up," Katie said.
Through a victim advocate, she learned about Arizona's Address Confidentiality Program, designed specifically for victims of domestic violence, sexual offenses, and stalking. The program routes mail through the Secretary of State's office, allowing the department to act as a sort of P.O. box for victims and survivors. In turn, the program shields contact information from search engines, public records, and abusers.
To be eligible for the ACP, a person must be a victim of one of the above crimes, must be in fear for their safety, and must have documentation to support victimization. It also requires a major commitment: the victim must move from their current home.
For Katie, who had been trying to escape her ex, that actually wasn't a big ask. Her children have already had to move six different times since her daughter was born two years ago.
More than 2,500 Arizonans across more than 1,000 households are currently protected under the program, now including Katie and her three children.
The program itself, however, is not protected. First established in 2011 and activated in 2012, for the last few years, Arizona's ACP has been paid for by a patchwork of legislation. Most of its funding came from a federal grant, the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund.
VOCA is the program providing support from a federal level for state and local projects focused on victims of crimes. In 2024, VOCA funding is expected to be slashed by a substantial amount as a result of seemingly inadvertent legal maneuvering and budgeting adjustments. The program is not paid for by taxpayers, but instead by people who have been convicted of crimes and forced to pay fines and penalties.
"That may be a symptom of 'oh, we need smaller government,' so they're just closing programs. But that has a real-life effect on real-life people," Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes explained.
Fontes has been a vocal supporter of the ACP, publicly lobbying in the Arizona Legislature in the final days of its budget process to try to secure funding for the program.
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Without the money from VOCA, Arizona was left with a $400,000 hole in the ACP's budget. Lawmakers in Arizona's legislature were already facing a $1.3 billion budget deficit, and they were unable to push through the funding for ACP.
In the end, the answer came through an investment from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC), which is working to ensure ACP gets the money it needs to last well into 2025. The fight isn't over yet, though.
"The individual situations are bad enough that folks have to, like, leave and hide, and that's really the situation we find these people in," Fontes said. "These are folks that need this protection, and the state should fund it permanently."
Fontes says he plans to push for a permanent funding solution in Arizona, one that won't rely on year-by-year fixes and can sustain the thousands of victims who rely on it.
Until then, and hopefully, for the foreseeable future, Katie is doing better than ever.
She's begun dating someone who supports her and her children. Once afraid to get a job out of fear that her ex would track her down, Katie now proudly manages some of the top real estate agents in the state. She credits the transformation, which happened in less than six months, to the ACP and her victim advocate.
"I don't look over my shoulder anymore," she says excitedly. "This is the first time I have felt like I can maybe live out my whole lease."
If you are interested in learning more about the Address Confidentiality Program, click here. If you believe you may be eligible to join the ACP, reach out to acpinfo@azsos.gov or call the dedicated ACP line at (602) 542-1653. Applicants for the ACP will not enroll or apply through the program itself but through one of the registered Application Assistants located in agencies and survivor nonprofits statewide.
