Enforcement “as humane as possible”

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Starting Tuesday, homeless people in Florida will be banned from camping on city streets, sidewalks and parks.

After three months, starting Jan. 1, individuals and businesses can sue cities and counties for failure to comply with the new state law.

Local 10 News examined how a number of South Florida cities – and Miami-Dade County – are responding to the new rules.

On Tuesday, we spoke with Broward County leaders, including Nan Rich, the county's mayor.

She said the county is trying to implement the new law “as humanely as possible.”

“You don’t want to put someone in jail and hopefully give them an opportunity to get their life in order and give them services and an opportunity to get a job and then get affordable housing,” Rich said. “That is our goal.”

Rich said the county is taking a multi-pronged, multimillion-dollar approach.

“In total, we are putting $26 million from the general fund into our homelessness budget and another $17 million from HUD and DCF. So in total we have $43 million and then another $25 million to build affordable housing.”

The county is also expanding shelter capacity with state money and investing more county money into its existing eviction prevention program.

Patrice Paldino, the director of the Broward Department of Housing Options, Solutions and Supports, said the county will receive about $667,000.

“We are trying to find additional ways to add beds to our shelter capacity with these dollars,” she said. “An additional million dollars from the county and part of this program is not only funding the attorneys, but also providing dollars to pay off the arrears so that the landlords are compensated and the tenant can stay in the property because if we have an eviction “That’s one less family or individual on the street.”

The county is also identifying landlords with vacant apartments as part of a landlord recruitment effort called “Project Home Again.”

“We have over 500 landlords that we pay rent to to house people,” Rich said.

Paldino added, “In fact, I just spoke to a landlord today who wants to make some units available to the county when they become available. That’s why we have a great partnership with landlords in the county who want to provide vacancies for the people we serve.”

Rich said some of the landlords are “immigrants who came here with nothing, and now they deserve it and want to give back.”

The county is also working with developers to build affordable housing. Rich said the county included an additional $25 million in funding in its budget to incentivize the construction of affordable housing.

Paldino called the affordability crisis the county’s “biggest hurdle.”

“We need to look at it from a new creative approach,” she said.

Rich said the county is working with Fort Lauderdale to build a pallet shelter. Paldino said county commissioners have allocated $750,000 for the proposal.

“We have not yet identified a location for them or what they will look like because there are different models, some are for families, some are for individuals, some have toilets on site etc, but with plots it is a solution, so if we can Find a place to advertise that it provides transitional housing,” Paldino said. “It is not a permanent option, but it will expand bed capacity with the ultimate goal of moving them into affordable permanent housing.”

Rich said the county is working to get land.

“These things can blow up like that,” Rich said, snapping his fingers. “There are a lot of people who don't want to go to a shelter, but we actually surveyed people on the street and asked if they wanted to go to a shelter and all but one said yes because it's private and safe, they .” can go in and close the door.”

Next Tuesday, county commissioners will discuss a new ordinance that would issue a civil citation to violators.

“It doesn't put you in jail, if you violate it a few times, I think two times, you could end up in jail, but our focus is on providing services,” Rich said.

Padrino added: “We need an approach that is a collaborative effort that everyone must look at with compassion and humanity and contribute their best ideas, perhaps some of their money.”

And while Fort Lauderdale's mayor has floated the idea since April of using a former Broward Sheriff's Office jail at 5400 Powerline Road — owned by the county and known as the “Palisade” — as a shelter, Rich rejected the proposal.

“We don’t lock anyone up. The Stockade is the original prison for Broward County. It's 50 years old, I looked at it, spent over two hours there, I met with BSO, they rented part of the space to do training there and I have to tell you, it's terrible and that's “Not what my colleagues are doing and I’m thinking about how to approach this program,” she said.

She said some areas she visited there were “full of mold and mildew.” This is not the place where we house people. And they know it in Fort Lauderdale because we met with them and explained to them that we are not going to solve this problem that way, that we are not going to lock people up in the stockade.”

Meanwhile, commissioners in Fort Lauderdale will vote on the related anti-camping ordinance during Tuesday night's city commission meeting.

A spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department released a new statement Tuesday outlining how the law will be enforced:

“Our priority is protecting public safety, and the Miami-Dade Police Department will continue to address these sensitive issues as we always do.” We will continue to work with the Homeless Trust to provide resources and available services to the homeless, and we will take law enforcement actions that focus on specific crimes that have been committed. We also coordinate with community law enforcement to share resources to support the homeless.

The House bill (HB 1365) does not constitute a criminal or civil offense that would require enforcement by a law enforcement agency. However, Miami-Dade County Code Section 21-286, Prohibiting Overnight Camping, permits trespassing after an arrest with warning if a person fails to leave the premises after being warned by a county official or law enforcement officer.”

MDPD statement

Miami-Dade County sent Local 10 News the mayor's latest statement on the matter.

“We are proud that in Miami-Dade we have succeeded in reducing unsheltered homelessness by nearly 90% over the past three decades, despite increases in many communities across Florida and the country. The new state law creates a new sense of urgency to help those on our streets, and through the Homeless Trust we are developing a plan to comply. Through a mix of short- and long-term strategies, we aim to reduce public camping without criminalizing homelessness and overwhelming our prisons. Especially when we know that this problem affects our most vulnerable – many of those without protection are seniors aged 55 and over and families with young children. We will work with our law enforcement agencies and partner communities to ensure unsheltered people on the streets receive the care they need, while investing in innovative short-term crisis housing and long-term permanent housing solutions.”

Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor of Miami-Dade County