A new Florida law banning sleeping and camping in public places is now effective, with potential consequences for people experiencing homelessness, such as forced displacement or an increase in arrests.
The act, or House Bill 1365, prohibits counties and cities from allowing people to sleep in public places, citing reasons relating to dangerous, unsanitary, and disruptive conditions. It also mandates municipalities to provide designated zones to shelter people without homes. These encampments or shelters must have restrooms, running water, security, and access to mental health and drug rehab services.
Yet, municipalities across Central Florida haven’t made much progress establishing these sites.
In a statement, the City of Orlando said homelessness is "a complex, regional issue that requires a collaboration effort," such as securing funding and locations. Another obstacle is public support — getting neighborhoods to agree to having homeless resources in or near their communities.
Shan Rose, interim commissioner for Orlando’s District 5, said the city has been working on it.
“There was a task force, a think tank that was put in place to look at how we address homelessness. Homelessness is on the rise, 23% up in Orange County, and so as a result, we have been looking diligently at options throughout the city,” Rose said.
Last month, the group proposed an open-access shelter, big enough for 250 people, but this was nixed after residents of Orlando’s District 5, on the west side, spoke out against it.
When it comes to Orange County, leaders just approved another $10 million for homelessness and must now decide how to best use that money. Similar efforts are happening in most other cities and counties across Central Florida and the state, but there are no reports yet of any regions that have fully complied with the new law.
One notable provision in the legislation is that people and businesses will be able to pursue civil action against municipalities if they fail to place unsheltered people in these state-mandated, designated sites. While the law is now in effect, lawsuits cannot be filed until Jan. 1.
According to Martha Are, CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, many county and city officials are using this to their advantage, viewing the three-month window as a grace period.
Are said, widely, there is just no enthusiasm from municipalities or agencies for this law. She said many are taking a “wait-and-see” approach instead.
“We’ve heard some jurisdictions express that they plan to wait and see what happens with the first lawsuit to see how the court rules on something like that. Some are really looking at a cost benefit analysis. You know, do they rush something to try and meet a deadline, or do they take the time to create a better solution?” Are said.
Other matters that have city and county officials on the fence include potential complications that could arise from just lumping a diverse group of people, all with individual needs, in one place.
“People experiencing homelessness are very different, and the needs of the homeless preschooler are different from the homeless teenager, are different from the 72-year-old grandmother who's experiencing homelessness for the first time, are different from the person who lost their job because of a medical crisis. Everybody's needs are different, and so we still need the right kind of service capacity,” Are said.
The vagueness in the law is another hurdle, according to Are. For example, the law states the settlements must have “running water.” Interpretations could include showers, sinks, or just a spigot.
“Parts of the legislation lack a certain clarity about what steps they need to take and what will happen. And so, with that kind of ambiguity, many jurisdictions are reluctant to move forward,” Are said.
One of the most notable concerns includes criminalization, as the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that sleeping in public places can now be punishable by arrest.
It’s not just homeless advocates worried about this, Are said law enforcement officers are not interested in spending resources to arrest people who are just trying to rest.
“We don't have any law enforcement that is excited about the prospect of arresting more people. Everybody is aware that that is not the best strategy,” Are said. “Jurisdictions want to comply with legislation, but they also don't want to fill up the jails with people who are arrested simply because they don't have a place to go.”
At the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, Chief of Law Enforcement Dan Purcell echoed what Are said. One thing he wanted to clear up is the conflation between counties and cities not being allowed to let people sleep or camp in public and police action. These are two different things.
In the legislation, the words “law enforcement” are nowhere to be found. The burden of carrying this out lands squarely on municipalities. Arrests will depend on how cities and counties approach homelessness.
In Orlando, at the start of the year, the city passed an ordinance that’s been used to arrest transient and unhoused people, but not all places have these laws. According to Purcell, without city and county ordinances in place, local police and deputies have no enforcement mechanisms.
Nor do they want any, he said. At least not in Seminole.
“If we engage with any individual, and they're doing a criminal act, it doesn't matter whether they're housed or unhoused, we will hold them accountable, and we will arrest people just like we would any individual. But what we're not going to do is criminalize homelessness. We're never going to do that. That is a social situation that we want to change for individuals,” Purcell said.
According to Purcell, law enforcement officers can easily help serve a much more effective and humane purpose.
“Seminole County Sheriff's Office has always taken an approach and exercised a philosophy that we will never be able to arrest our way out of homelessness because we believe that homelessness is not a criminal offense.," he said. "It's not a criminal matter. (...) Therefore, our approach has always been to stabilize individuals and families where we can and provide them with the resources to get on a better trajectory to improve their quality of life and their family."
In downtown Orlando, Kevin Lichtenberg has actually been following this issue closely. Lichtenberg goes by the nickname “The Urban Camper.” He’s been homeless for well over a year. His civic engagement on the matter has reached the mic at Orlando City Hall.
Although he hopes the sites and shelters will help families and individuals get off the streets and into safer living situations, he said he’s already seeing the situation worsen in one big way.
“They're flocking in from other states, down here to Florida. So, I think it's actually going to have a reverse effect, that it’s going to bring an influx of homeless people to Florida who would’ve never been here. And I don't feel like (the Florida Legislature) thought this through very well when they shoved this law down everyone's throats,” he said.
Lichtenberg said he’s ready for real solutions, not “middle-man” bandage fix ups that waste taxpayer money. But he said that, at this point, he believes homelessness has become an industry.
“The optimist in me hopes that it works out and people get the help they need, but with that being said, when it's only about 700,000 documented homeless people in America, and you have $9 billion going into the problem -- that’s an industry. That’s a little business,” Lichtenberg said. “I just feel like if you gave the money directly to the people who need it, you’d see them get housed, start businesses of their own. Watch it get better.”
Orange County has a workshop scheduled for Nov. 19 to discuss how to direct funding allocations for homelessness.
Lillian Hernández Caraballo is a Report for America corps member.
Copyright 2024 Central Florida Public Media
