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Vermont Network seeks base funding to stabilize domestic-violence services and expand supervised visitation
Summary
Carly Lessor Man of the Vermont Network told the Senate Judiciary that the Vermont Domestic and Sexual Violence Special Fund has run deficits for years and requested $350,000 in base funds, $100,000 for administration and $250,000 to expand supervised visitation statewide.
Carly Lessor Man, public director at the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, testified to the Senate Judiciary on April 9 that community-based victim services are strained and that the Special Fund that supports those services has run deficits in most years since FY15.
Lessor Man said Vermont's 14 member organizations handled more than 23,000 hotline calls in 2025 and provided in-person advocacy to nearly 8,000 people. She told the committee that the Special Fund, created in 2008 and supported by surcharges on court judgments and marriage-license fees, has been flat-funded for 15 years and has required one-time legislative appropriations to avoid cuts.
For the FY27 budget the Network requested three items: $350,000 in base funding to prevent cuts to community domestic-violence services; $100,000 in base funds to the Center for Crime Victims Services to administer the Special Fund; and $250,000 in base funding to the Department for Children and Families for a statewide supervised-visitation system. "We're requesting $350,000 to fill the projected deficit in this upcoming fiscal year in the Special Fund and prevent cuts to community-based direct services on July 1," Lessor Man said.
Lessor Man described supervised visitation access gaps: six nonprofit centers currently operate programs that in some cases serve multiple counties, leaving five counties without a local program and requiring families to travel long distances or forgo court-ordered visits. The House budget included a one-time $130,000 for supervised visitation; the Network seeks $250,000 in base funds and said the smaller one-time amount would likely be insufficient to prevent program closures or expand services to underserved counties.
When asked how many programs would close if only $130,000 remained, Lessor Man said she could not provide a specific number but described the situation as "dire" and said several programs were on the breaking point. The committee thanked the witness and paused for a brief recess; no formal action occurred during the hearing.
