{"id":44038,"date":"2024-04-10T22:36:04","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T02:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=44038"},"modified":"2024-04-10T22:36:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T02:36:13","slug":"a-must-read-banning-homeless-people-from-sleeping-on-public-property-in-florida-is-inhumane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2024\/04\/10\/a-must-read-banning-homeless-people-from-sleeping-on-public-property-in-florida-is-inhumane\/","title":{"rendered":"A MUST READ: Banning homeless people from sleeping on public property in Florida is inhumane"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that takes homeless individuals off Florida\u2019s streets and places them in encampments monitored by law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The shortsighted law neglects individual circumstances and fails to adequately address the complex set of social, economic, legal, and health issues that homeless people are enduring.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Bill 1365<\/a> bans homeless people from camping or sleeping on public property starting on Oct. 1. This legislation is not a viable long-term solution because it does not address the root causes of homelessness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to one of the bill’s\u00a0legislative advocates<\/a>, HB 1365 allows local jurisdictions to decide what if any, criminal penalties to impose on homeless individuals who violate the law. Local officials must carefully consider the consequences of enforcing this law. Criminalizing anyone who cannot access a shelter or who chooses not to go to a shelter fails to protect human dignity and minimizes one\u2019s value as a person.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In addressing the global issue of homelessness, the United Nations<\/a> points out that the right to adequate housing should not be disconnected from the right to life, specifically a life with dignity. Human rights advocates<\/a> argue that the \u201ccriminalization of homelessness\u201d deprives people of these essential rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April, the Supreme Court will hear a case<\/a> brought forth by the state of Oregon to consider whether ordinances banning homeless people from camping or sleeping on public property constitute \u201ccruel and unusual punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court\u2019s decision will impact situations involving homeless people using public property for protection when public shelter is unavailable. Given that the Supreme Court case could alter how states and cities manage homelessness, Florida\u2019s law is premature and may need to be altered before its implementation date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the state of Florida, the 2023 homeless population was estimated at 30,700, the third-highest number of homeless people in the United States. California leads the United States in homelessness, accounting for 49% of homeless people in the nation. Florida and California are the third and first most populated states in the union, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida\u2019s legislators cast homeless people as lawbreakers and eyesores rather than humans challenged by poverty-induced circumstances. Poverty and homelessness are public health issues, not crimes. Experiencing homelessness reduces life expectancy by about 30 years<\/a> for the average American.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From an economic perspective, criminalizing homelessness burdens municipalities with the costs of potential lawsuits. Starting at the beginning of next year, Florida\u2019s new law allows for the filing of lawsuits<\/a> against cities or counties that allow homeless individuals to camp or sleep on public property.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The funding and resources needed to create additional housing and supportive care are very cost-prohibitive to rural Florida. Such areas do not have to comply with the law\u2019s public camping provision if they show that compliance creates a \u201cfiscal hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inconsistent jurisdictional implementation of this law will result in a redistribution of the homelessness problem in Florida, forcing people to shelters in designated areas where \u201cfiscal hardship\u201d is not proven. These legislative flaws reveal the lack of a strategic plan to help people exit a state of homelessness and support themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness calls similar laws to HB 1365, \u201cout-of-sight, out-of-mind\u201d<\/strong> laws. The priority is not solving homelessness but instead channeling more people to incarceration to clear and clean up public outdoor spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Failed policies and underfunded programs exacerbate a shortage in affordable housing, leaving homeless individuals marginalized. Investments must be directed towards social impact agencies that provide multidimensional housing programs with job-readiness training, life skills instruction, behavioral health services, and community engagement opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legislators are enabling and attempting to solve a crisis with punitive and unsustainable solutions. They must instead focus on breaking the cycle of homelessness and implementing long-term humanitarian solutions across the spectrum of socioeconomic, legal, and health issues faced by Florida\u2019s homeless population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that takes homeless individuals off Florida\u2019s streets and places them in encampments monitored by law enforcement. The shortsighted law neglects individual circumstances and fails to adequately… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[8118],"class_list":["post-44038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-a-must-read-banning-homeless-people-from-sleeping-on-public-property-in-florida-is-inhumane"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44040,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44038\/revisions\/44040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}