MIAMI – Perched on a comforter resting on a Miami sidewalk against a chain-link fence and his girlfriend’s plastic pink princess house, 25-year-old Rahee Hale said his recent eviction, paired with a low-salary construction job, makes finding a new place and making rent difficult.
“Everything on West Flagler and Little Havana has already taken a price jump by at least $500, $600,” Hale said.
Because of a Florida law passed earlier this year, beginning on Oct. 1, the homeless are banned from camping on city streets, sidewalks, and parks.
The idea is for them to be placed in temporary shelters monitored by law enforcement.
“It is very messed up because raising the price of living, what do you expect society to do?” Hale asked. “Everyone is trying to live.”
Miami police Chief Manny Morales says the plan is to continue the department’s Homeless Assistance Outreach Initiative as municipalities figure out how to comply.
“One of the things we are trying to figure out is how exactly it is going to work. We know that the county and the municipalities have to work together to designate a permitted encampment location,” he said. “We will continue to have our Homeless Empowerment Assistance Team — our H.E.A.T. — go out there and do their daily outreach operations. We will continue to focus on placement.”
While the state’s new anti-unauthorized camping and public sleeping law directs the Department of Children and Families to authorize temporary campsites with restrooms, running water, mental health and substance abuse treatment, it doesn’t provide municipalities with funding.
Dan Cates, a retired mechanic and electrician who, as a church volunteer, helped homeless individuals into existing shelters, says shelters are often at capacity.
“If they can’t sleep here, they got to go somewhere else. That’s crazy,” Cates said. “They will be back Even if you pass a law, they will still come back.”
He added, “There’s nowhere to go.”
Officials with the Miami-Dade Police Department said that “details and the effects of its ratification are still being monitored and evaluated by our department,” but noted that the agency “adheres to and enforces all applicable Florida state statutes.”
Miami-Dade County memorandum:
Fort Lauderdale police say they’re also continuing with their homeless outreach program.
“The Fort Lauderdale Police Department will follow the city’s directives on how to respond to HB 1365. In the meantime, our Homeless Outreach Unit officers will continue our ongoing efforts as normal,” an agency spokesperson said in a statement.
Broward County officials said that the county is “not establishing such an encampment.”
“We have not received any funding associated with HB 1365,” a Broward statement reads. “The county intends to leverage its existing homeless continuum of care to provide services that may be needed by unhoused people in our community.”
We have asked the offices of Gov. Ron DeSantis, as well as those of the bill’s supporter, if state lawmakers plan to approve a funding allocation to cities and counties to assist them in being able to comply, but have yet to hear back as of this article’s publication.
We have also asked the DCF if they have authorized any temporary campsites in Miami-Dade and Broward but have yet to hear back.
It remains unclear how municipalities would be able to fund erecting temporary shelters and providing sanitation as well as substance abuse and mental health treatments within the constraints of their existing fiscal budgets by Oct. 1.
Starting Jan. 1, citizens can start suing municipalities for “allowing” prohibited unauthorized public sleeping and camping.