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TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday endorsed a statewide strategy to address homeless people. Republican lawmakers say it’s the first of its kind.
In short, put them At camp.
Lawmakers last week would require counties to ban homeless people from sleeping in public places and instead allow them to stay in designated encampments with security, sanitation and access to behavioral health services. submitted a bill.
Although the governor He said the bill is still a “work in progress” and supported the bill’s goal of moving homeless people off the streets. He also said local governments were open to allocating funds to support their treatment and accommodation.
“If Congress is going to actively participate in this issue, we feel like we want to be there to provide support, but if it’s done right,” DeSantis said Monday at a press conference in Miami Beach. I have to,” he said.
“It must be done in a way that focuses on ensuring public safety, ensuring the quality of life of residents and preserving people’s property values,” he added.
idea It’s dividing lawmakers and homeless advocates alike.
To Democrats and most homeless advocates, that’s an ugly story. And the despicable one-size-fits-all approach will likely result in more arrests. Homeless. It also could run contrary to federal best practices that encourage mobility. Move into transitional or permanent housing.
The bill has the backing of a Texas think tank that favors tent cities over permanent housing, which opponents see as another red flag.
of Law too It is backed by Ron Book, the longtime president of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, which has been widely praised for its success in ending homelessness.
Book, a powerful lobbyist in Tallahassee, admits the idea isn’t perfect. Tent cities don’t work, he said. And Miami-Dade County never does mass camping.
He thinks the bill is a good start, and has influential people in Congress sponsoring it. That person is Fleming Island Republican Rep. Sam Garrison, who is slated to become speaker of the Florida House of Representatives in 2026.
“You have leadership to address homelessness. We’ve never seen anything like this before,” Book said.
He acknowledged hearing from supporters who strongly oppose the proposal.
Sen. Rosalind Osgood, a Tamarac Democrat, denounced the idea before a Senate committee. She was once a young homeless mother struggling with addiction, and she worries that this bill would mean she would be arrested and separated from her children for simply taking a nap somewhere. She said it would be.
“I keep thinking about just getting outside with my baby,” she said.
“Florida Model”
House Bill 1365 and Senate Bill 1530 would prohibit local governments from allowing sleeping or camping on most public lands and properties accessible to the public.
But counties and local governments could designate some land for camping or sleeping in locations that would not have a “negative and significant” impact on nearby residential or commercial areas.
The law would allow local governments to be sued and liable for legal costs if they fail to comply with the law.
The initiative, called the “Florida Model,” aims to force local governments to assist homeless people while removing them from public spaces, Garrison told a House committee last month.
“We will not allow the public spaces we all enjoy that are essential to the thriving of our communities to be lost,” Garrison said. “We’re not going to do that.”
Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, the Senate bill’s sponsor, said it is a “state-of-the-art” solution to the growing homeless population.
Lack of affordable housing is putting more Americans to sleep At a public park, campground, or in their car. Some people stay with family or friends, and others stay in motels if they can afford it. School districts and universities report thousands of homeless students.
Last year, the Florida Council on the Homeless reported 30,809 people experiencing homelessness, a 9% increase from 2019. Of those, 15,706 were sleeping outdoors, in cars or in abandoned buildings, more than double the number in 2021. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties reported 4,144 people were homeless. Last year, the number of people decreased by about 300 from 2018.
Funded by federal and local sources, Tampa Bay coalitions and nonprofits are employing a variety of strategies to address homelessness, from purchasing and renovating shelters to helping homeless people overcome addiction. There is.
But in the face of rising homelessness, some local governments across the state are struggling to find solutions. Some prohibit begging. In West Palm Beach, nuisance songs like “Baby Shark” were played loudly to keep people awake at Waterfront Park.
Miami Beach last year allowed the arrest of homeless people if they refuse to go to shelters, a strategy DeSantis praised Monday. Miami Beach police arrested 20 people under the ordinance late last year, most of them sleeping on the beach, according to a police report.
Garrison said of his bill: target Chronically homeless people are often mentally ill, struggle with substance abuse, or are not persuaded into housing. He said the law could change as he talked to people, but the current situation of allowing people to sleep outdoors was “inhumane”.
“I’m open to any ideas as long as the status quo is not an option,” he said.
One of the bill’s supporters is the Cicero Institute, a think tank founded by Austin-based venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale. Who supported it? Gov. Ron DeSantis’ failed presidential campaign.
The institute believes the federal government’s strategy for homelessness, which aims to end homelessness by eventually placing homeless people in permanent housing, is a failure. The website states that housing construction supports “nepotism”. He has encouraged other states to criminalize homelessness, but he has also supported efforts to make it easier to build affordable housing.
“The public no longer wants to deal with homelessness,” said Brian Sunderland, the institute’s government affairs director. “Let’s get people off the streets and get them the help they need.”
Garrison and Sunderland said the idea for the bill came from Garrison.Some lawmakers have mentioned ties to think tanks. However, as a reason to vote against the bill. The organization is registered to lobby for the bill.
“This was probably drafted by some think tank as a good idea for people who haven’t experienced homelessness, who don’t live here,” Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Miami, wrote in the bill last month. I said this before voting against it.
Questions and alternative strategies
The bill also faces practical concerns, such as how such tent cities can be kept safe and how homeless people can be forced into tent cities. There is.
The House budget bill includes $20 million for additional homeless services, but the bill is not tied to any additional funding.
Most notably, the establishment of tent camps runs counter to the federal government’s “housing first” approach, which focuses on ending homelessness. Identify more places where people can stay. Unlike past strategies, recipients with substance abuse disorders do not have to: Sober before being detained.
Garrison’s proposal would require people in tent sites to abstain from drugs and alcohol.
The strategy has been particularly successful in Miami-Dade County, which has long been considered the state’s model for ending homelessness. In 1992, it created the nation’s first dedicated funding source for homeless services in the form of a 1% food and beverage tax.
It was purchased by the county’s homeless trust. It is an assisted living facility that houses homeless seniors and sends outreach workers into the community to provide medication to seniors. Those who have not yet moved into housing.
Since the early 1990s, the county’s homeless population has dropped from more than 8,000 to less than 1,000, according to the latest count from August last year by the Miami-Dade County Homeless Shelter. (Garrison said the county has done a “great job.”)
Laws that could upend communities Current homelessness policies are alarming, said Annie Lord, executive director of Miami Homes for All, which works to build and preserve affordable housing.
“That could potentially have a lot of unintended consequences,” Lord said.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed the type of building purchased by the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust.
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