DV Resource Guide
Safety, advocates, and protection orders in Florida — free, and separate from anything sold here.
What this is, and what it is not.
A safety plan is built around your particular situation by someone trained to do it. An advocate will make one with you over the phone, free, and it is one of the most useful things you can get.
That is also why there is nothing here to fill in. A completed worksheet about your own safety is a document that can be found.
Assume a shared device is not private.
Most people are found through the ordinary things, not through anything sophisticated. Browser history, autofill, a synced tablet, a shared family plan, and even notifications on a lock screen.
41 certified centers, covering all 67 counties.
The 24-hour hotline on your card is answered by an advocate and connects you to the certified center nearest you. Interpreters are available, and the line operates in English, Spanish and Creole.
For legal advice specifically — including help filing — the Domestic Violence Legal Hotline is run by Florida Legal Services and is free. It is the fourth number on your card, and it is also reachable as option 3 on the main hotline.
What Florida calls an injunction.
Most people say restraining order. There are 5 kinds — domestic violence, dating violence, repeat violence, sexual violence and stalking — and which one fits depends on your relationship with the other person and what has happened.
An injunction can order no contact, give you temporary exclusive use of the home, award temporary custody and support, and require a batterer’s intervention program.
Court filings are public. Ask the clerk or an advocate about keeping your address out of them before you file.
Timing matters more than the list.
Gathering identity documents, proof of income, and anything showing what you own or owe is worth doing. It is also visible, and the period around leaving carries the highest risk. An advocate can help you think about sequence — what to do first, what to leave, and what not to do at all. Copies are usually enough, and a copy stored elsewhere is safer than an original that goes missing and is noticed.
Advocates speak with people who are not leaving, who are not sure what happened was abuse, and who only want to know their options. That is a normal call, and you can do nothing with the answer.
If you are in danger, call 911.
Not in immediate danger? Call an advocate. Free, anonymous, and commits you to nothing.
Every number is on the card. One side is a real attorney’s card, so anyone going through your wallet finds a card you were handed. Write your own number on the last line in pen. A wallet is safer than a phone, but if yours is somewhere the other person looks, memorize the first 2 numbers.
Nothing here is recorded. No fields, no account, nothing that leaves your device.