Q&A – Florida’s New Homeless Policy
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
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Today’s Entry: @brianmuddradio When can we expect the changes in homeless policy to take effect?
Bottom Line: October 1st. That’s the date Florida’s Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping law will take effect once Governor DeSantis signs the bill passed by the legislature. The legislation, which overhauls public policy pertaining to permissible homelessness within the state, passed in a divided vote last week near the conclusion of Florida’s state legislative session. I covered the proposal in January, as it was first being taken up in the session, however the final version was amended so it’s worth a look at what’s in the legislation which will become law later this year.
According to the state’s analysis here’s what the legislation will do:
(Prohibits) a county or municipality from authorizing or otherwise allowing any person from regularly engaging in public camping or sleeping on any public property, public building, or public right-of-way under the county or municipality’s jurisdiction unless the county designates property for such purposes.
The bill authorizes a county, by majority vote of the county’s governing body, to designate property owned by the county or by a municipality within the county to be used for public camping or sleeping for up to one year. If the designated property is within a municipality, the designation is contingent upon concurrence of the municipality, by majority vote of the municipality’s governing body. The designation is also contingent on certification by the Department of Children and Families (DCF), when the county requests it and certifies to DCF that certain criteria are met.
Under the bill, if a county designates public property to be used for public camping or sleeping, the county must establish and maintain minimum standards and procedures related to ensuring safety, security, sanitation, mental health and substance abuse services coordination, and illegal substance and alcohol use prohibition, unless the county is a fiscally constrained county and complying with such requirements would result in a financial hardship. The bill requires a county to publish the minimum standards and procedures on the county and municipality’s website within 30 days after certification of designation. The bill authorizes DCF to inspect such designated property at any time and provide notice to the county recommending closure of designated property if requirements for maintaining the property are not being met.
The bill establishes a civil cause of action for injunctive relief. It authorizes a resident of the county, owner of a business located in the county, or the Attorney General to bring a civil action to enjoin the county or municipality from authorizing public camping or sleeping without designating property for that use. If successful, the petitioner may recover reasonable expenses. The bill requires an application for an injunction to be accompanied by an affidavit confirming that the applicant provided written notice of the violation to the county or municipality and that the county or municipality failed to cure the violation within five business days.
This is obviously a comprehensive policy change in Florida. One in which a person may not sleep or camp on public property regardless of jurisdiction. The legislation places the onus on county governments to provide homeless shelters, at their discretion, which are then regulated by DCF. All shelters must have these accommodations:
- Ensuring the safety and security of the designated property and the persons lodging or residing on such property;
- Maintaining sanitation, which must include, at a minimum, providing access to clean and operable restrooms and running water;
- Coordinating with the regional managing entity to provide access to behavioral health services, which must include substance abuse and mental health resources; and
- Prohibiting illegal drug use and alcohol use on the designated property and enforcing such prohibition.
Based on the state’s accounting of homelessness in the state, there are approximately 12,300 homeless individuals who are currently living in conditions that wouldn’t be deemed acceptable under this legislation. Specific to the Palm Beaches, there were 1,855 homeless individuals accounted for most recently. Using the state’s estimates, there are 740 people in Palm Beach County which will be directly impacted under this policy. This will have a noticeable and profound impact in the communities that have been impacted by the growing number of homeless individuals sleeping in public spaces in recent years. Once Governor DeSantis signs the bill into law it’ll be important to track the actions of county governments as it pertains to whether additional shelters will be built, or if they’ll seek to reduce homelessness through enforcement.
One thing local governments faced with public homelessness aren’t allowed to do is nothing. As cited in the analysis – should local governments choose to not enforce the law – they can legally be held accountable by those in their communities who’re negatively impacted by public homelessness. I’ve heard from multiple business owners who're ready to act against local governments on this issue given an opportunity to do so. Hopefully that won’t be necessary.