People experiencing homelessness in Florida will be banned from sleeping overnight on streets, on sidewalks and in parks under a law signed this week by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), which he characterized as a "law-and-order" step that would help unhoused people but that some homelessness advocates warned would be ineffective.
The governor's office said the bill, which DeSantis signed Wednesday, would give homeless people resources to "get back on their feet" while aiming to increase public safety. Critics have said the law does not address root causes of homelessness or provide for long-term solutions.
Under the law, people won't be able to camp in public spaces with tents, temporary shelters or bedding. Localities will be tasked with enforcing the law and subject to state scrutiny.
"Florida will not allow homeless encampments to intrude on its citizens or undermine their quality of life," Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a statement.
The law creates a mechanism for counties to designate areas as temporary campsites for up to one year. DeSantis's office said homeless people would be "placed in temporary shelters monitored by law enforcement agencies."
The designated campsites are required under the bill to provide resources for substance abuse and mental health treatment, and maintain restrooms and running water. People living at such a site would be prohibited from using drugs or alcohol.
The bill's proponents said that would help connect homeless people with services.
"With a challenge as complex as chronic homelessness, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of comfortable inaction," Rep. Sam Garrison (R) said in the governor's office's statement. "This bill will not eliminate homelessness. But it is a start. And it states clearly that in Florida, our public spaces are worth fighting for."
Critics have raised questions about how the law would work in practice, including whether communities will be able to settle on properties to designate for the campsites, what happens after the one-year expiration date on those sites and whether it will help people who can't use the temporary sites because they're substance users.
"It's really important that we not push aside people that are insecure in their housing, that need help, that may be navigating things like addiction, PTSD, disabilities," Rep. Anna V. Eskamani (D) said in a debate this month in the legislature. "Instead of pushing folks away, we need to ensure that we're providing them with a safe and secure long-term plan."
Advocates have also raised concerns about whether the law, to which cities and counties are subject to enforcement by the state, could lead to arrests of homeless people or expose localities to lawsuits, particularly in places without enough funding to run the temporary sites.
"If a city or county can't afford to provide such a place -- and the expense to do so statewide would add up more than the entire state budget for homelessness -- the bills enable any person or business to sue the jurisdiction if there are still people living on the streets," Martha Are, the executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, wrote in an opinion piece in the Orlando Sentinel.
"The cities and counties will need to arrest everyone on the street ... thus leaving the cities and counties vulnerable to civil rights lawsuits. Or the cities and counties will ignore the statute, and so they'll face lawsuits."
Unhoused people and local governments in Florida were bracing for the law's passage. Some homeless Floridians are concerned the law will force them into encampments without providing the type of help they'd require to overcome homelessness, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
At least 30,000 people in Florida are experiencing homelessness, and about half of those are unsheltered, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development estimate based on the January 2023 point-in-time count of homeless people on a single night.
The state has the third-highest share of homeless residents in the United States, behind California and New York, though its rate of homelessness is lower than the national average, at about 14 homeless people for every 10,000 Floridians.
From 2022 to 2023, the number of unsheltered people increased in Florida, partly driven by the expiration of pandemic-related funding, the impact of Hurricane Ian, rising housing costs, immigration and other factors, according to the HUD assessment.
The law takes effect October 1.
This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/03/21/florida-desantis-homeless-ban-sleeping-public/
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