Thanks to a Services, Training, Officers, Prosecution (STOP) grant through Rape Response Services, we worked with two literacy specialists and a group of center staff to make statewide outreach materials more accessible to lowerliteracy populations. As part of this work, we developed new outreach tools (a poster and a palm card with crisis and support line information on it), updated several sections of our website, and provided the content to centers for use on their sites. We printed the new posters and palm cards for center staff to distribute throughout their communities. The literacy specialists also developed a guide for our work and centers’ work moving forward, which included advice on the most readable fonts, how to use images to best convey the point of the materials, and many other considerations. This project resulted in us taking another look at all our materials (outreach and otherwise), and we are excited to move this work forward in all of our efforts. Public Policy We are passionate about our public policy work and proud to advocate for the interests of victims/survivors, their families and communities, as well as for Maine’s sexual assault service providers both on the state and national level. Our positions are informed by the experience and expertise of Maine’s sexual assault service providers and the communities they serve, the best available evidence, and our many trusted statewide partners. Specifically, we seek to expand, improve, and protect public policy which: • Meaningfully contributes to the prevention of sexual violence; • Ensures high-quality response to victims across systems; • Promotes victims’ rights, protections, and victims’ access to justice; • Increases community safety; and, • Is responsive to the needs of marginalized and vulnerable populations. During the First Regular Session of the 128th Maine Legislature, we worked, as always, in close partnership with a wide range of partners. It was a successful, but difficult legislative session as a result of several controversial bills. We engaged in a meaningful way on twenty-two bills last session, and 90 percent of those resulted in positive or acceptable outcomes. 12
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