At a Wednesday bill signing, Gov. Ron DeSantis and top Republicans in the Florida Legislature highlighted that their anti-public camping bill would provide what are known as “wraparound services,” including mental health care, for the state’s homeless population.
According to the City of Lakeland, the city commissioners will be discussing this law at the strategic planning meeting in May.
The legislation requires municipalities to designate a specific public space for camping and sleeping, if the shelters are full, with approval from the Florida Department of Children and Families. They must include security, behavioral health services, and bathrooms with running water.
But critics say the state’s $30 million appropriation for the measure isn’t enough.
DeSantis signed “Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping” (HB 1365) in Miami Beach, saying “it will help maintain and ensure that Florida streets are clean and that Florida streets are safe for our residents.”
“What we’re saying is, we can do better,” said Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, who also spoke at the press conference. “We can synergize, we can put everybody in one place, not just the homeless, but we can put the not-for-profits and those that are helping in one location.”
But Megan Sarmento, an outreach program manager for the Florida Harm Reduction Collective in Tampa, said $30 million isn’t enough for the kind of outreach the state’s Republican leaders are talking about.
“We’re going to need so much more funding if we’re going to build up these resources,” she said. “Even now, how the system is, we are finding people on the streets and are unable to link them to care because of the lack of resources, including housing and detox.”
‘Resources are either scarce or not allowed,’ advocate says
“I think the idea of providing wraparound services is great, but the two services that people want the most, detox and medications for opioid use disorder, those resources are either scarce or not allowed,” Sarmento said.
Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, responded to the new homeless camp law. In a statement, she said the state should focus on decreasing property insurance rates and affordable housing.
“This law is going to make a bad situation worse and we should be focused on addressing the environment that creates homelessness, not punish people who have fallen into those circumstances,” she said.
DeSantis said the law was Florida’s way of preventing cities from looking like San Francisco, a city he has criticized for its “leftist policies” and for allowing parks and sidewalks “to be overwhelmed with tent cities and homeless encampments.”
“These are difficult issues, but you should not be accosted by a homeless like we see,” DeSantis said at the press conference. “You should be able to walk down the street and live your life.”