Florida law banning homeless people from sleeping in public outdoor areas goes into effect

A new law went into effect in Florida on Tuesday banning homeless people from sleeping outside.

House Bill 1365 bans camping on streets, sidewalks and in parks. Local governments are obliged to provide temporary accommodation where drug use is prohibited. You will also be offered substance abuse and mental health treatment.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said the law was “absolutely the right balance,” adding, “We want to make sure that public safety comes before everything else.”

People can also sue counties that don't stop public sleeping. However, the law provides a three-month grace period before people can begin suing county governments over people sleeping in public.

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However, the public sleeping ban came into force on Tuesday. Florida estimates there are about 31,000 homeless people.

“Like we're camping out in public because we can't find a place to live because the money he makes from his job is no longer enough for us,” Mildred Forti told CBS News Miami. “This is another stupid law. We will move again and find a new place.”

Forti said she and her husband have been homeless in Miami for several months.

Ron Book, chairman of the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, told CBS News Miami, “We are working feverishly to create more shelter and shelter options.”

House Bill 1365 bans camping on streets, sidewalks and in parks. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“We're looking at setting up a navigation center that's a step below, if you will, what a normal shelter is,” he said. “We hope to have it operational by the end of the year.”

Book also said his organization plans to move more than 140 people into rental units at the La Quinta Hotel before Dec. 31, 2024, citing plans to convert the La Quinta Hotel in Cutler Bay into housing for low-income seniors.

“We are building an eight-unit building in Overtown and 190 single-unit men's housing near Krome,” Book said. “We have also identified 80 additional beds for another animal shelter in the next 30 days.”

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Florida estimates there are about 31,000 homeless people. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a social media post, “Homelessness is not a crime.”

Under the new law, local governments can offer county-owned land to people to sleep in as long as they keep it clean and crime-free and as long as people living there have access to showers and mental health services.

For approval, the county must demonstrate that there are not enough beds in homeless shelters to keep up with the local homeless population and that the encampment would not impact property values ​​or the safety of other homes or businesses in the county.