An applicant must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• You are a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking or a person providing or seeking reproductive or gender affirming health care services.
• You are a resident of and reside in the state of Vermont.
• You are an adult, emancipated minor, or a parent or guardian acting on behalf of a minor of an incapacitated person.
• You are willing to designate the Secretary of State as your agent to receive legal documents and first-class mail.
• Can accept to a 7 day mail delay to allow for mail forwarding.

To benefit from the Safe at Home program, we recommend that participants have an address that is recent and where there is not an existing government record.

Ready to apply? Apply Now

Some applicants find it helpful to use an Applicant Assistant. This is not a requirement to participate in the program. Locate the nearest survivor advocate using the list below or call 800-439-8683. Interested in becoming an Applicant Assistant? Visit our Applicant Assistant Program page to learn more.

Safe at Home has two components: a substitute address service and a protected records service. These services limit a perpetrator or harasser’s ability to access public information that could identify the new location of a survivor who is in the program. This is not a witness protection program, rather it is a mail forwarding service.

Substitute Address Service

Participants are granted the use of a Montpelier post office box address. The substitute address has no relation to the participant’s actual address. All participants use the same post office box as designated by the program. First-class mail and service of process is sent to the post office box and then forwarded, at no cost, to the participant’s actual location.

Protected Records Service

Safe at Home allows participants to use the substitute address when creating records with state or local government agencies. Program participants can vote (as a blind ballot absentee voter), obtain a driver’s license, get married, and register births without fear that those records will put them at risk of being located.

The program cannot protect the identity or address of a participant in a real estate transaction because land records are open to the public. It is recommended that participants explore alternate methods of purchasing property such as setting up a trust.

Participant Responsibilities

Safe at Home staff will review the properly completed application and certify an applicant as a program participant for four years and issue a Safe at Home authorization card. The authorization card contains an authorization number unique to each program participant. When using the substitute address, the authorization number must be included in the address. Because mail for all participants comes to the same post office box, the authorization code is an important identifying item and helps to expedite the mail forwarding process.

Once accepted into the program, participants should use the substitute address when creating records and accessing services with state and local government agencies. The Safe at Home authorization card should be presented to an agency when requesting the use of the substitute address.

Participants are required to notify the Safe at Home office of any changes in name, address, or phone number in order to remain in the program.

Government Agency Responsibilities

State and local government agencies must accept the Safe at Home substitute address for any public record unless the agency has received prior approval from the Office of the Secretary of State for a waiver or statutory exception. Agency employees may request verification of program participation by asking for the participant’s authorization card. A photocopy of the authorization card may be placed in the participant’s agency file and shall serve as the participant’s address and confirmation of Safe at Home program participation. The authorization card is not a legal form of identification.