Florida is seeing an increase in homelessness. A Republican bill could make it worse

‘Inhumane’ legislation on governor Ron DeSantis’ desk will require cash-strapped counties to build remote camps

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“There’s no question there’s an increase in homelessness,” Stanley, the organization’s chief executive, said, her anecdotal evidence supporting a federal study published in December reflecting a 12% rise in just one year of people lacking permanent sheltered accommodation nationally.

“We’re seeing more and more families experiencing homelessness for the first time. And I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the older adults, later in life, losing housing due to affordability, and being homeless at an age of 60 plus. It’s not a good situation right now.”

And things could be about to get much worse, Stanley and numerous other advocates for the unhoused warn. That variable relies on Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis signing an “inhumane” bill currently on his desk that seeks to sweep the state’s sizable unhoused community from public view.

The new law will require counties and municipalities without sufficient existing capacity to establish homeless camps, with state oversight, far away from more prominent facilities such as parks and waterfront spaces, and impose penalties if they allow or authorize rough sleeping outside of them.

Equally concerning to critics is that there is no mention of increased funding for substance abuse and mental health treatment promised by DeSantis when he promoted legislative proposals to “combat homelessness” in a February press release. It has fueled suspicion that the true intent of the law is to hide the problem rather than try to tackle it.