Indiana domestic violence victims can now receive Hope Cards

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Indiana is now the third state to introduce Hope Cards to victims of domestic violence. Indiana Attorney General, Greg Zoeller, visited the YWCA in Lafayette to introduce the cards.

The cards are for victims with protective orders. Normally, those victims have to carry around their protective order, which can be over 20 pages.

The Hope Card will give police immediate details on protective orders that can be referenced during a crisis. Hope Cards are about the size of a credit card.

"This will both supplement and compliment the protective order that  most victims carry around with them," Zoeller said.

"This card makes things so much easier for victims," Michelle Bumgarner, a domestic violence advocate with the Indiana Attorney General's Office, said. "So often we expect [domestic violence victims] to carry around a stack of paperwork, which would be like asking everyone with a driver's license, instead of carrying around their license, to carry around a printout of their entire BMV record."

The cards will be free to those who apply and meet minimum criteria. The funding for the program is provided by a grant from Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine program. Indiana's Hope Cards are the first in the nation to rely solely on private grants.