What you need to take when you leave

IDENTIFICATION

 Driver’s License
 Children’s birth certificates
 Your birth certificate
 Social Security cards (you & children)
 Welfare identification

FINANCIAL
 Money and /or credit card (credit cards could potentially be                traced by abuser)
 Bank books
 Checkbooks

LEGAL PAPERS
 Your restraining order
 Lease, rental contract, house deed, rent receipts
 Car registration & insurance papers
 Medical records for you & children
 School records
 Work permits/green card/visa
 Passport
 Marriage certificate/license
 Divorce papers
 Custody papers
 Any other court paperwork

OTHER
 House and car keys
 Safety deposit box key
 Small valuables to pawn
 Jewelry
 Address/phone book
 Phone card
 Pictures of you and children & abuser
 Children’s favorite toys, blankets
 Toiletries/diapers
 Change of clothes for you & your children
 Personal items with special meaning to you and your children

 Current unpaid bills in your name

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SAFETY WHEN PREPARING TO LEAVE

1.Open a savings account and/or credit card in you name to increase your options. Think of other ways in which you can increase your independence.
2.Leave money, an extra set of keys, copies of important documents, extra medicines and clothing with someone you trust so you can leave quickly.
3.Determine who would be able to let you stay with them or lend you some money.
4. Discuss a safety plan with your children for when you are not with them.
5.Inform your child(ren)’s school, or day care about who has permission to take your child.
6.If you live in a rural area, you might consider getting a dog or obtaining a device that imitates the sound of a dog barking.
7.Keep shelter or hotline numbers close at hand and keep some change, a calling card or your cell phone on you at all times for emergencies.
8.Review your safety plan as often as possible in order to plan the safest way
to leave.

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REMEMBER, LEAVING MAY BE YOUR MOST DANGEROUS TIME.