Herald-Tribune
Seven months ago, following four years of false starts and acrimony, the Sarasota city and county commissions separately but unanimously approved a 36-page report — complete with locally specific recommendations — on chronic adult homelessness.
The joint endorsement was, we wrote at the time, a big deal.
Now, the city and county — aided significantly by community-based organizations — are on the verge of a bigger deal.
On Tuesday, with no internal dissension or external finger-pointing, the County Commission approved a package of agreements and funding commitments aimed at moving past the debating and planning stages — laying the foundation for implementation of a balanced, multi-faceted strategy for relieving one of the most visible, vexing problems both the community and individuals have faced. (Similar proposals go to the City Commission Monday and warrant an equally positive reception.)
The strategy embraces the recommendations made earlier this year by Susan Pourciau of the Florida Housing Coalition. Pourciau provided not only expertise but a fresh look at the issues and ideas that had driven a wedge between the city and county commissions — and, in several cases, proffered compromise proposals.
The great compromise splits the difference between the status quo in short-term sheltering of homeless adults and a previous, controversial proposal to build a new, large intake shelter in the city. In short, county government will pay the Sarasota Salvation Army to provide beds (not cots) for nonviolent, homeless adults living on public property or in unauthorized camps. (The city has already made that arrangement.) The most notable change is that homeless adults in those beds will not be subject to the Salvation Army’s conditions and shelter will be available 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
This shelter space will provide city police and sheriff’s deputies with a welcome alternative to arresting homeless trespassers. It will be vital for officers and deputies, as well as advocates of homeless adults, to make the changes clear to the individuals encountered on the streets or in camps: The Salvation Army does good work, but its requirements can be a deterrent for many.
Revisions to the county’s ordinance prohibiting unauthorized camping or storing property on public lands, which will also be considered by the City Commission, provide welcome incentives for homeless adults to accept shelter — and, ideally, take advantage of social services and referrals to housing — in order to avoid arrest. That alternative is good for the community and most likely to give the individuals the best chance to stabilize and improve their lives.
Wayne Applebee, the county’s director of homeless services, who has worked tirelessly and patiently to build consensus for progress, says this process uses a carrot-and-stick approach but with “a carrot much larger than the stick.” Good.
There has long been a concern about essentially criminalizing homelessness and using arrests — and possibly jail time — to get people off the streets. But the plan on the table offers the best opportunity to date for avoiding criminalization and helping people.
Article last accessed here on Nov. 27, 2017.