A new Florida law banning homeless people from sleeping outdoors went into effect Tuesday.
House Bill 1365 prohibits camping on roads, sidewalks, and parks. Local governments are required to provide temporary housing where individuals are prohibited from using drugs. They will also be offered substance abuse and mental health treatment.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said the law is “absolutely the right balance to enact,” adding, “We want to put public safety first and foremost.”
They will also be able to sue counties that do not stop public sleeping. But the law includes a three-month grace period before county governments can begin suing people for sleeping in public.
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A new Florida law banning homeless people from sleeping outdoors went into effect Tuesday. (Getty Images)
But the public sleeping ban went into effect on Tuesday. Florida estimates there are approximately 31,000 homeless people.
Mildred Forti told CBS News Miami: “The money he makes from his job is no longer enough for us, so he can't find a place to stay and he's still camping out in public.'' . “This is another stupid law. We'll start moving again and looking for new places.”
Foti said she and her husband have been homeless in Miami for several months.
“We are working diligently to increase shelter and housing opportunities,” Ron Book, president of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, told CBS News Miami.
House Bill 1365 prohibits camping on roads, sidewalks, and parks. (Photo by: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency, Getty Images)
“We're considering setting up a navigation center, but it's one step below a normal evacuation center,” he said. “We hope to have it operational by the end of the year.”
Book also mentioned plans to convert the La Quinta Hotel in Cutler Bay into low-income senior housing, saying the organization plans to move more than 140 people to the La Quinta Hotel by Dec. 31, 2024. He said the plan is to move them into rental units.
“We are building eight units in Overtown and 190 single-family units for men near Crom,” Book said. “We have also confirmed that we will be securing an additional 80 beds in other shelters over the next 30 days.”
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Florida estimates there are approximately 31,000 homeless people. (Teyfan Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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“Homelessness is not a crime,” Broward Sheriff Gregory Toney said in a social media post.
Under the new law, local governments can provide county-owned land for people to sleep on, as long as they keep it clean and crime-free and provide showers and access to mental health services for those staying there. I can do that.
For approval, the county must ensure that the homeless shelter does not have enough beds to house the local homeless population and that the encampment will not harm the property value or safety of other homes or businesses in the county. need to be proven.
