by Emily Fitzgerald, Washington State Standard
July 16, 2025
Washington’s Hope Card program has given out 2,000 wallet-sized, portable copies of protection orders, according to the program’s organizers.
Launched Jan. 1, the program offers vulnerable adults and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and harassment who have civil protection orders against their abusers an easier alternative to carrying bulky court documents with them at all times.
The program is intended to make it easier for law enforcement to deal with protection order violations and protect survivors.
“It’s really translating to a breaking of chains for people,” said Lauren Pilnick, Hope Card senior court program analyst for the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts. “Being able to have one less thing regarding their victimization on their mind every time they leave the house is hard to quantify, but it’s huge for people.”
The cards are free and available to anyone with certain types of full civil protection orders.
Legislation passed earlier this year fortified the program by making Hope Cards available to extreme risk protection order holders, prohibiting applicant fees for the cards, and securing funding to translate program materials into 13 more languages.
The law also reduced the amount of information about the restrained person that the Administrative Office of the Court needs to have in order to issue a Hope Card. The reduction was meant to better accommodate court capabilities and make data entry easier.
The law goes into effect July 27.
Each card contains the restrained person’s name and description along with the protected individual’s name, birth date, and some basic information about their case.
Hope Card holders can show the cards to law enforcement, employers, school officials and landlords if an abuser is violating an order.
A person can request a card any time while their order is active. They are valid until a protection order expires, is dismissed or materially modified.
The cards are processed, issued and mailed by a centralized program at the Administrative Office of the Courts.
If a protection order is on file, responses have been issued by the Hope Card program on average in less than three days, according to program organizers.
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