NEW FLORIDA LAW AFFECTING HOMELESSNESS BEGINS OCTOBER 1ST.
HERE'S WHAT WILL CHANGE:
A new public sleeping ban takes effect October 1, 2024 in Florida under House Bill 1365, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in
March.
“Florida has chosen to reject comfortable inaction and tackle this problem head on,” House bill sponsor Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island, said in June
after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of an Oregon city’s ordinance cracking down on public camping.
Part of the measure gives legal standing to
residents and business owners to file civil lawsuits against local governments that allow sleeping or camping on public property. The law mandates that counties and cities must enforce a ban on public camping, or face lawsuits beginning January 1st, 2025.
Supporters claim it upholds “law and order” while critics argue it criminalizes homelessness.
The law will allow people to sleep in cars if they are properly registered and legally parked.
The new Florida law bars
local governments from allowing people to sleep at places such as public buildings and in public rights of way. Local governments would be allowed to designate areas for homeless people to sleep.
If local governments choose to create temporary encampments, those will be subject to approval by the Department of Children and Families, and they cannot be near residential areas.
The law also excludes “fiscally constrained counties” from some of the safety standards.
In recent
months, communities have scrambled to try to comply with the law.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he hoped Gov. Ron DeSantis would delay
enforcement.
“We’re doing our best to try to address it. We’ve staffed our police department, our civilian homeless outreach program, we’ve doubled it this past
year, because we feel it’s a priority,” Trantalis said during a Sept. 1 meeting. “But the mandate from the state is an onerous burden.”
Miami-Dade County has
considered “tiny houses,” managed by a homeless agency, the Homeless Trust, as emergency accommodations to limit the impact of the changes on jails.
Jacksonville
rolled out a $13.6 million plan to address the law that included a point person in the mayor’s office to address homeless issues, expanded outreach teams and an increase in beds at shelters.
“It's not just about keeping people off the streets. It's about making sure they can become viable members of our society,” Mayor Donna Deegan said in July.
