TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday endorsed a statewide strategy for dealing with homeless people that Republican lawmakers say is the first of its kind.
In short, put them in camps.
Legislators in the last week advanced bills that would require counties to ban homeless people from sleeping in public places and instead allow them to stay in designated camps with security, sanitation and access to behavioral health services.
Although the governor said the legislation is still a “work in progress,” he endorsed its goal of moving homeless people off the streets. He also said he was open to assigning money to help local governments treat and house them.
“We feel that if the Legislature is willing to lean in on this, that we want to be there to be able to offer support, but it’s got to be done right,” DeSantis said during a Monday news conference in Miami Beach.
“It’s got to be done in ways that is focused primarily on ensuring public order, ensuring quality of life for residents, ensuring that people’s property values are maintained,” he added.
The idea has divided lawmakers and homeless advocates alike.
To Democratic lawmakers and most homeless advocates, it’s a clumsy and mean-spirited one-size-fits-all approach that will lead to more arrests of homeless people. It could also run counter to federal best practices, which encourage moving them into transitional or permanent housing.
The legislation has the backing of a Texas think tank that favors tent cities over permanent housing, which opponents consider another red flag.
The legislation also has the support of Ron Book, the longtime chairperson of the board of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, widely praised for its success in eliminating homelessness.
Book, who is a powerful Tallahassee lobbyist, acknowledges the idea is not perfect. Tent cities don’t work, he said, and Miami-Dade County will never do mass encampments.
He thinks the legislation is a good start and has an influential figure in the Legislature sponsoring it: Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island, who is set to become speaker of the Florida House in 2026.
“You have leadership tackling the issue of homelessness. We haven’t had that before,” Book said.
He acknowledged that he’s heard from advocates who strongly disagree with the proposal.
Sen. Rosalind Osgood, D-Tamarac, condemned the idea during a Senate committee. Once a homeless young mother struggling with addiction, she said the bill would have caused her to worry about being arrested and separated from her children for simply taking a nap somewhere.
“I just keep thinking about being out there with my babies,” she said.
“The Florida model”
House Bill 1365 and Senate Bill 1530 would prohibit local governments from allowing sleeping or camping on most public-owned land or property where the public has access rights.
However, counties and municipalities could designate some land — in a location that does not “adversely and materially” affect nearby residential or commercial properties — for camping and sleeping.
The legislation would allow local governments to be sued — and be liable for any legal fees — if they fail to comply with the law.
Dubbed “the Florida model,” the idea is intended to get local governments to help homeless people while clearing them out of public spaces, Garrison told a House committee last month.
“We are not going to allow the public space that we all enjoy, that is essential for a thriving community, to be lost,” Garrison said. “We’re just not going to do it.”
The Senate bill sponsor, Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, called it a “cutting edge” solution to the growing homeless population.
A lack of affordable housing has caused more and more Americans to sleep in public parks, campgrounds or their cars. Some stay with family and friends or, if they can afford it, motels. School districts and colleges are reporting thousands of homeless students.
Last year, Florida’s…
This article was originally published by a www.tampabay.com . Read the Original article here. .