Tiffany Roberts felt hesitant to identify herself as a victim.

She had decided to leave her marriage in 2011, and as she navigated the separation, her husband sexually assaulted and strangled her, she said. Her attempt to leave became “incredibly dangerous,” prompting her to seek help from Starting Point, a crisis center in Conway for survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence.

“I was really feeling unsure about identifying myself as a victim and just very privately looking for help, for resources, because I just wasn’t sure what to do in the circumstances that I was in,” Roberts said.

She found help at Starting Point, one of 12 member organizations that comprise the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. The group has recently come under the microscope of state legislators.

A proposed bill from Newmarket Rep. Ellen Read, a Democrat, initially called for an investigation into the Coalition, its finances and lobbying activities. Now, pending changes and approval by the House of Representatives this week, the bill would subject the organization and its 12 crisis centers to New Hampshire’s Right-to-Know Law, RSA 91-A. It would also increase oversight by state government.

The nonprofit’s leaders said the bill poses an existential threat to the Coalition, its services and its advocacy at the State House by conflicting with the confidentiality rules required by federal grants. At the same time, some lawmakers appear supportive of scrutinizing the organization, questioning the services it provides and its financial management.

Based in Concord, the Coalition helps to train police and nurses on how to handle sexual assault and domestic violence cases, and it provides resources for survivors. It passes funds to 12 crisis centers throughout the state, which help survivors safely identify and pursue their options. The organization held $12.4 million in grant revenue as of mid-2025, according to an audit, and 98% of its funding comes from the federal and state government.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the legislation, HB 1675, on Wednesday.

Roberts, who later worked for Starting Point, said in written testimony that she sees the bill as an attempt to silence survivors.

“Weakening the Coalition weakens the coordinated network that keeps survivors safe and helps them rebuild their lives,” she wrote. “Legislators should be focused on protecting victims and strengthening survivor services, not undermining the organizations tasked with doing exactly that.”

When she sought help, an advocate at Starting Point told her about all the options that were available to her, including filing a domestic violence petition and reporting to the police. Someone from Starting Point could accompany her to do so, they said.

She initially felt that reporting the assault would be too dangerous. Still, their recommendation made a difference. It felt validating, she said.

“I will always remember her saying, ‘He’s counting on you to be too afraid to do that,’” said Roberts, who recalled thinking that there was no way she could file a police report. “But I remember feeling relief that she thought that was the appropriate response to do that.”

An alternate experience

Another survivor, Jessica Peutin of Goffstown, said she learned of the bill on Facebook and supports the idea of greater transparency from the Coalition.

Peutin said she contacted the Coalition about two years ago while preparing to head to court to secure a more permanent extension of a temporary restraining order against her boyfriend at the time.

He had punched her in the face, she said, sending her falling over her bed and resulting in a swollen eye and bruises on her shoulder and ribs.

The Coalition connected her with Reach, its affiliated crisis center in Manchester. Speaking on the stand is not the “average person’s day,” she said, and she wanted to know what to expect.

Lyn Schollett, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence testifies against House Bill 1740 on Friday

Peutin said at that point in her case, she was frustrated with the police, the prosecutor and the court system as a whole.

An advocate went to court with her, but Peutin said her questions went unanswered. She asked what cross-examination would be like and what questions the defense attorney might ask, but she said the advocate told her they weren’t allowed to prep her.

The only advice she received was to be aware of her facial expressions and where she looked on the stand.

“That was really frustrating because I thought that’s what the whole point of them was, to kind of help guide you,” Peutin said. “It’s supposed to exist to support and prepare victims … yet when I reached out about my own domestic violence case, I didn’t really feel supported or prepared at all.”

Peutin said she later found the help she was seeking from a victim advocate at the state Department of Justice.

Lyn Schollett, the Coalition’s executive director, said crisis center advocates can provide information to survivors but not legal advice.

“Advocates have to walk a fine line, and frankly, it sounds like this advocate walked the right line by not giving advice about the case but being there to provide support and perhaps information,” Schollett said. “No one can give an exact roadmap of what a defense attorney is going to do … It would be irresponsible for an advocate to suggest to a victim that they know exactly what is going to happen in a hearing.”

Schollett also noted that, that same year, the Coalition terminated Reach’s membership and funding, closing it down after discovering financial mismanagement and “programmatic problems.” A new crisis center with all new staff and leadership has since been constructed under the same name, she said.

Peutin said she appreciated that the advocate accompanied her and remembers that she offered to get tissues if she cried or hold her hand if she needed it. It felt like a better option than going alone or recruiting others to come, she said, but she wishes the advocate would have been more helpful about what to expect.

“I am very grateful for the person that sat with me in court because it’s just somebody there, because it’s really embarrassing having friends and family come and listen. You feel like, how could this happen to me? Like, did I let this happen?” Peutin said. “I was grateful for the advocate that sat with me, but it just stinks that I can’t ask them questions. They can’t give me advice.”

But as a whole, Peutin said she didn’t feel helped by the Coalition or Reach. She now supports greater oversight of the organization.

“I think that … given how much tax money goes to them, that they should be transparent, because transparency holds people accountable, right?” Peutin said. “If we’re able to get transparency from them, like are they training police? Are they prepping victims, giving them the information they need, supporting them?

In contrast, Roberts said her advocate took a more active role. Starting Point was “hugely instrumental” in supporting her as she filed a domestic violence petition, Roberts said, which she added brought her a “tremendous amount of safety.”

She originally wanted to keep the report bare-bones but talked with an advocate about what details she should include. She said he advised her to be as upfront as possible.

“That really was the most beneficial thing, I think, for me and for my kids, was to have that domestic violence petition in place,” Roberts said. An advocate “showed up at the courthouse to help me put that on paper, which was terrifying, and then kept showing up for the many hearings that happened after that.”

‘Compromise’ or ‘fishing expedition’?

The text of Read’s bill originally called for a legislative commission to investigate the Coalition, echoing allegations made by Claire Best, a California resident who owns property in New Hampshire and has spent years accusing the Concord-based Coalition of improper lobbying practices and other wrongdoing. The Coalition denies those claims.

A House committee approved an amendment, drafted by Republican Rep. Erica Layon of Derry, that would replace the entirety of the bill. If passed in the House on Wednesday, it will do away with any investigation or funding restrictions but place other oversight and transparency requirements on the Coalition.

The amendment would make the Coalition and its member organizations subject to the Right-to-Know law, RSA 91-A, which typically applies to government agencies.

Read said she thinks it’s a “good compromise,” arguing that because 98% of the Coalition’s funding is public tax dollars, it should be subject to the same public records rules. The amendment would also solicit oversight and annual reports from the state Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Justice that monitor the use of funds, the demographics of people served and the effectiveness of violence prevention, intervention and support services, among other things.

“We just want to make sure that if we are funding domestic violence and sexual assault assistance programs, that that money is actually going to victims,” Read said.

Schollett framed the amendment as worse than the original form, saying the Coalition and crisis centers handle confidential information about their clients. In writing grant applications and police trainings, the Coalition draws on personal stories of the people that it serves.

She also said the federal grants that make up the lion’s share of funding require that information to be kept confidential.

“If 91-A were applied, it would be an absolute open-door fishing expedition for defense attorneys to try to get to that information,” Schollett said. “The result would be victims won’t come forward.”

What’s next: The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on House Bill 1675 on Wednesday, March 11. The Executive Departments and Administration Committee recommended its passage, with the amendment, by a vote of 9-7.

If you need help:
Call the 24/7 State Domestic Violence Hotline at 1866-644-3574
Call the 24/7 Sexual Assault Hotline 1800-277-5570