Audit of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Overview of Audited Entity

This section describes the makeup and responsibilities of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Overview

The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (SOC) operates under the authority of Chapter 9 of the Massachusetts General Laws and various statutes related to corporations, securities, and elections. According to its website, SOC serves as “the chief record-keeping, public information, securities regulator, and elections officer of the Commonwealth.” SOC is organized into 16 major units (see the Appendix for more information about each). One of these units is called the Address Confidentiality Program (ACP), about which we go into more detail below.

SOC’s central office is located at 1 Ashburton Place in Boston; it also has two satellite offices located in Fall River and Springfield. As of June 30, 2024, SOC had 462 active employees, including two employees responsible for managing the ACP. According to SOC officials, in fiscal years 2023 and 2024, SOC received state appropriations of $75,158,175 and $71,171,940, respectively.¹ Of these amounts, the Legislature allocated $136,971 to the ACP for fiscal year 2023 and $268,971 for fiscal year 2024.

ACP

The ACP was established by Chapter 409 of the Acts of 2000 and officially launched on April 9, 2001. The ACP provides a substitute address and confidential mail-forwarding service to (1) individuals who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and/or stalking and (2) healthcare providers who have a connection to a legally protected healthcare service.² The ACP helps participants keep their actual physical address confidential, thereby supporting efforts to avoid actual or potential threats. A participant’s enrollment in the ACP is valid for four years from the date of enrollment and may be extended through a reenrollment process.

During the audit period, a total of 356 individuals, which included 8 healthcare providers who have a connection to legally protected healthcare services, were enrolled in the ACP. This group included 151 children, 178 adult females, 22 adult males, 3 nonbinary adults, 1 transmasculine adult, and 1 adult who chose not to disclose their gender.

The table below shows the number of ACP participants by county during the audit period.

County	Number of ACP Participants
Middlesex	90
Norfolk	56
Suffolk	56
Essex	44
Worcester	27
Bristol	27
Hampden	16
Plymouth	15
Hampshire	14
Barnstable	7
Berkshire	4
Total	356

ACP Application Process

The ACP application process differs slightly, depending on an applicant’s reason for applying to the ACP (i.e., whether they are a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and/or stalking, or they are a healthcare provider who has a connection to a legally protected healthcare service).

Regarding individuals who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and/or stalking, Section 130 of Title 950 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR) stipulates that these individuals who also meet certain ACP eligibility requirements,³ such as being a resident of Massachusetts, may apply to participate in the ACP. They do so by having a local, certified ACP application assistant⁴ complete a Participant Application form on their behalf (which is stipulated by 950 CMR 130.02 in order to help the individual during the difficult time caused by the domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and/or stalking). Once the Participant Application form is complete and signed by the applicant, the ACP application assistant then submits it to the ACP manager along with all required documentation. This documentation includes copies of the applicant’s identification, evidence of a safety threat (e.g., a restraining order or police report), proof of residency, and (if applicable) a birth certificate or custody documentation for each of the applicant’s minor children.

Regarding healthcare providers who have a connection to a legally protected healthcare service, these individuals may apply to participate in the ACP. They do so by completing the Health Care Application form, which they can download from SOC’s website. Unlike ACP applicants who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, and/or stalking, healthcare providers are not required to work with an ACP application assistant when applying to the program. Once they complete the Health Care Application form, they must gather and submit all required documentation directly to the ACP manager. This documentation includes copies of the applicant’s identification, evidence that they have a connection to legally protected healthcare services, proof of residency, and (if applicable) a birth certificate or custody documentation for each of the applicant’s minor children.

The ACP manager determines the ACP applicant’s eligibility by reviewing the application form to ensure that all required information is included by comparing the details provided on the form with the submitted documentation. Once the ACP manager approves an ACP application, ACP staff members contact the applicant to confirm their acceptance into the program and their status as an ACP participant. They also send the ACP participant a welcome packet and an ACP identification card, which includes the participant’s enrollment start date and expiration date.

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles uses a single, designated substitute address for all ACP participants. ACP staff members notify the Registry of Motor Vehicles of the ACP participant’s eligibility to use the substitute address. The Registry of Motor Vehicles keeps this substitute address on file for providing location information and proof of residency for the following:

• documents such as drivers’ licenses, state identification cards, vehicle registrations, and vehicle titles and
• matters such as vehicle insurance and excise taxes.

State/Local Entity Exemption Requests

According to 950 CMR 130.08, all state and local entities are required to accept an ACP participant’s substitute address as their residential and/or mailing address. If an entity determines that it cannot accept the substitute address and contacts ACP by telephone to request an ACP participant’s actual address, then ACP staff members must inform the caller that a written state/local entity exemption request is required. The request and details of this telephone conversation must be documented in the ACP call log by ACP staff members, which is maintained in the ACP participant’s physical file.

If a state/local entity submits a written exemption request to the ACP, then the ACP manager reviews the state/local entity exemption request to determine whether the entity has a bona fide need to access the ACP participant’s actual address. One example of a bona fide need would be a school district’s need to verify a student’s residency. State/local entities receiving an exemption must also demonstrate that they have measures in place to protect the ACP participants’ safety and maintain the confidentiality of their addresses.

If the state/local entity exemption request is approved, then the ACP manager issues a notification letter to the requesting entity and discloses the ACP participant’s actual address to the entity’s designated contact by telephone. ACP participants must be notified both when a state/local entity exemption request is submitted and when it has been approved.

Domestic Violence Service Provider Grant Program

The Domestic Violence Service Provider (DVSP) Grant program was established by Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2023 and is administered by SOC. The legislative acts require that a minimum of $100,000 from SOC’s state appropriation must be allocated to fund the DVSP Grant program. Eligible DVSP Grant applicants include nonprofit organizations that provide services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking, as well as healthcare providers who have a connection to a legally protected healthcare service. According to the DVSP Grant application, applicants must submit a comprehensive proposal that includes, at a minimum, a description of their past outreach efforts to geographic communities in which they provided services regarding domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking.

Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2023 states,

The secretary shall, to the maximum extent possible, ensure a geographically equitable disbursement of funds; provided further, that the secretary shall provide technical assistance to eligible entities in the application process; provide further, that the secretary shall develop reporting requirements for grant recipients.

According to SOC officials, the ACP manager reviews each DVSP Grant application to ensure that it includes all required elements as outlined in Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2023. Once the ACP manager completes this review, eligible applications are forwarded to SOC’s general counsel for approval.

According to Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2023, SOC was required to submit a report on the DVSP Grant program to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means no later than December 16, 2024. According to the fiscal year 2024 DVSP Grant program annual report, four nonprofit organizations received grant awards during fiscal year 2024. SOC officials informed us that the DVSP Grant was allocated based on the amounts the nonprofit organizations requested in their applications; any remaining balance was proportionately distributed among those organizations that received funding. The table below shows the fiscal year 2024 DVSP grantees, geographic areas of service, and awarded amounts.

DVSP Grant Award Information for Fiscal Year 2024

Grantee Name	Geographic Area of Service	Award Amount
Melrose Alliance Against Violence	Danvers, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Saugus, Stoneham, Wakefield, Winchester	$18,215
Wakefield Alliance Against Violence	Wakefield	23,215
Employers Against Domestic Violence	Statewide	28,215
HarborCOV	Chelsea, East Boston, Revere, Winthrop	30,355
Total		$100,000

During our audit, we identified areas for improvement regarding the administration and oversight of the DVSP Grant evaluation process. See Other Matters for more information.

1.    The decrease in state appropriations between these two years was due to specific line items that were affected by the 
COVID-19 pandemic.

2.    According to SOC’s 2023–2024 Annual Report for the Address Confidentiality Program, legally protected healthcare services include gender-affirming healthcare services and reproductive healthcare services.

3.    For more about the ACP eligibility requirements, visit SOC’s website here.

4.   According to SOC’s website, certified ACP application assistants “are employees of a state or local agency, or of a nonprofit program that provides counseling, referral, shelter or other specialized service to victims of domestic abuse, rape, sexual assault or stalking. They are chosen by their organization and trained by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.” These ACP application assistants are trained based on the ACP eligibility requirements (see footnote 3 for more information about these requirements).

Date published:	November 10, 2025