City action an ongoing result of litigation over ordinance
On separate votes just a day apart, the Sarasota City Commission and the Sarasota County Commission have authorized new agreements with the Salvation Army for the reservation of beds that the Sarasota Police Department and Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Homeless Outreach Teams (HOT) can use in getting clients off the streets.
The county funding will cover a variety of other types of assistance, as well, that agreement points out.
Altogether, the funds approved last week by the two board added up to nearly $600,000.
In unanimous approval of its Consent Agenda No. 1 during its Nov. 18 meeting, the City Commission approved the expenditure of $365,000 for the current fiscal year for up to 25 beds at the Salvation Army, which a city Agenda Request Formnoted are to be used “as criminal diversion for individuals found to be in violation of City Code 34-41,” which pertains to lodging out of doors.
The agreement with the Salvation Army is a facet of the settlement of a 2017 case involving homeless individuals, with David Cross as the lead plaintiff. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the complaint initially in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court before the litigation was moved to federal court in Tampa. The lawsuit contended that enforcement of the city ordinance prohibiting outdoor lodging “when there is no publicly available shelter violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.” All of the plaintiffs were described in the complaint as lacking “a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence” as well as a permanent residence.”
Through use of the Salvation Army beds, the Nov. 18 City Commission Agenda Request Form explains, 61 individuals in 2023 “were connected with housing outcomes” that included permanent housing locally or persons’ “being reunited with a support system either locally or in another state.”
The agreement with the Salvation Army has been in effect since 2014, the form pointed out.
The new agreement calls for the city to pay $40 per day per HOT bed for 20 beds; however, it notes that the city has the option to increase the number of beds “at any time” to 25 for the same rate. The beds are to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to individuals escorted to the Salvation Army by Sarasota Police Department officers or case workers, who help homeless persons obtain the services they need to try to stabilize their lives.
The agreement points out that no person transported to the facility will be forced to become a shelter occupant; likewise, no person “shall be required to accept religious instruction or required to receive counseling or medical treatment as a condition” linked to becoming a shelter occupant. Furthermore, the agreement says, “A person’s intoxication, standing alone, shall not disqualify that person from becoming a ‘shelter occupant.’ ”
The Salvation Army approved the agreement on Sept. 13, the document shows.
On Nov. 19, as part of their Consent Agenda of routine business matters, the County Commission unanimously approved the allocation of $221,560 in funds from the Florida Department of Commerce, which were provided through the federal Community Services Block Grant Program (CDBG) for the county HOT beds.
The county agreement points out, “The Emergency Shelter HOT Beds [program] provides emergency shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness. It is intended that the HOT Beds will have low barriers to entry and low demands for stay, so that they are accessible to people who need shelter the most; are focused on moving people out of shelter and into housing as quickly as possible; [and] have robust assessment and diversion processes to most effectively use scarce shelter resources …”
Along with paying for the HOT beds, the county agreement calls for other Salvation Army programs to assist the individuals using those beds. For example, it says, “The Emergency Assistance component provides rent/mortgage and/or water assistance to participants increasing their opportunity to achieve and maintain housing stability.”
A total of $25,000 has been set aside for helping about eight self-sufficiency clients receive rent or mortgage assistance. The allocation is $1,600 per month for approximately two months per client.
Further, $21,723 will help about 22 clients with rent, mortgages or water bills.
Another $10,000 is to be used to help approximately eight “self-sufficiency clients” receive assistance “to obtain skills or competencies required for employment and/or post-secondary education assistance (tuition, registration, text books, electronic materials, manuals, and resources excluding devices).” The expense is set at $1,250 per client.
Additionally, $11,900 will assist approximately 34 clients who are leaving substance abuse treatment in paying for rental housing.
Further, $2,000 will enable about eight self-sufficiency clients to pay for childcare.