Jesse Scheckner
On Oct. 1, the first day of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a new program will begin rolling out to help speed protective action for existing or potential domestic violence survivors.
It’s called, for short, the HOPE Card program, and it will enable victims of domestic violence and those at risk of abuse to quickly prove the existence of a court-authorized protective order and the parties involved.
The program is the result of legislation (SB 86) last Session, spearheaded by Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book of Davie, Democratic Rep. Mike Gottlieb of Davie and Republican Rep. Traci Koster of Tampa.
Lawmakers last Session unanimously approved the measure, which authorizes the Office of the State Courts Administrator to issue the HOPE Cards. The cards can be digital or physical — the size of driver’s licenses — and include information about the abuse survivor or person at risk and their abuser or potential abuser. Survivors before had to carry copies of their certified court injunctions, which can be nine to 12 pages long.
HOPE Cards can help people with protective orders quickly prove to others, including police, their situation during encounters in public places and while enrolling children in school and establishing custody arrangements. The cards can also help their holders to enlist their landlords, neighbors, employers, coworkers and others to watch out for them.
One potential negative, according to West Palm Beach law firm Perlet & Shiner, is that like a driver’s license and other such items, the personal information included in the HOPE Cards could make their holders vulnerable if lost or stolen.
Book, a longtime advocate for domestic and sexual abuse survivors, said she is “incredibly proud” to see her HOPE Card legislation go into effect.
“The HOPE Card program is more than a resource,” she said in a statement. “It’s a tangible lifeline that will help survivors navigate the complexities of protective orders and ensure their safety is prioritized, while also helping law enforcement better respond in moments of crisis.”
Gottlieb told the Florida Phoenix in September 2023 that he sponsored the bill after speaking with officials from the Broward County State Attorney’s Office, including State Attorney Harold Pryor and Assistant Broward State Attorney Stephanie Newman, who leads the office’s Domestic Violence Unit.
Newman told the Phoenix she became interested in a HOPE Card program after attending a Florida Domestic Violence Collaborative webinar on domestic violence fatality review teams. A speaker brought up HOPE Cards and how they worked in Montana, which created the program in 2010. It began as the “Purple Feather” program years before to make it easier for tribal police to confirm and enforce protective orders. Montana lawmakers then expanded to cover all state residents.
By late 2023, seven states had followed Montana’s lead.
Information on HOPE Cards include the petitioner or protected person’s name and birthdate, the respondent or abuser’s name and birthdate, the issuing court, the case number, when the protective order was issued, the protective order’s expiration date, the date the HOPE Card was issued, the HOPE Card’s expiration date and the phone number for Florida’s statewide domestic violence hotline.
HOPE Cards are free for the people they’re intended to help protect. To pay for them, SB 86 — which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed on April 26 — includes a one-time earmark of $176,000 from the General Revenue Fund.
