Broward opens doors to ideas for getting homeless off streets
People who are drunk or high would be allowed into homeless shelters under new plans being considered by Broward County.
It’s part of an effort to get more people who have spent years on the streets into shelters — and, eventually, a permanent place to live.
“We’re doing it on some of our overnight beds,” said Michael Wright, who oversees the county’s efforts to help the homeless. “Now we want to operationalize it for all of our crisis shelter beds.”
People won’t be allowed to bring drugs or alcohol to a shelter, and there would be zero tolerance for violence, but officials say
they fear that without a new approach, they might never reach the chronically homeless who are loath to accept help.
About 400 of Broward County’s estimated homeless population of 2,450 are considered to be chronically homeless, officials say, with about 150 of them very reluctant to accept any offer of shelter or housing. Many have mental health or substance abuse problems.
To improve the chances that the long-term homeless will take advantage of help, officials are also working on:
■ Increasing the number of outreach teams that stay in touch with people living on the streets, building a rapport that could eventually persuade the homeless to accept help;
■ Prioritizing emergency shelters so they are used for the chronically homeless over those who might have friends, family or others they can stay with while they get back on their feet.
Cities such as Fort Lauderdale have tried passing laws restricting where the homeless can sleep, eat and ask for handouts, but officials say they won’t get the homeless off the streets unless they can get them into services that will address their personal situations and provide them with permanent housing opportunities.
“Engaging persons experiencing chronic homelessness and helping them to realize that their situation is not hopeless remains difficult,” Wright said. “It often takes numerous and repeated contacts with an individual experiencing homelessness to engage them in services.”
After living for more than 20 years on the streets of Fort Lauderdale, Frances Robinson finally has an apartment she can call her own thanks to the “housing first” program.
It was hard to persuade the 4-foot 9-inch Robinson, nicknamed “Munchkin” by police, that even if she didn’t have money, she could still get a place to live.
Permanent housing available through federally funded programs does not cost anything for occupants who have no income. For those with income, federal regulations require them to pay up to 30 percent of their rent.
Getting an apartment can be overwhelming.
“A lot of them are afraid of going into a home. They don’t know what to expect,” said Samie Clarilus, a case manager for the Broward Partnership for the Homeless.
Robinson was one of them and initially had mixed feelings about leaving her life on the streets. She said it was “very boring and very scary because you don’t know who you’re going to meet, who you run into.” But she also enjoyed hanging out with friends on Riverwalk, watching yachts go by on the New River and dreaming of owning one.
“I’m scared, being on my own again, not having a roommate,” said Robinson, 59, who moved into her onebedroom apartment March 21. The move was delayed for more than a week because officials had not been able to track down a birth certificate from New York, where she thinks she was born.
She now gushes over the sparsely furnished apartment that has almost everything she could ask for, except a TV, and she busies herself doing word-search puzzles.
“I’ll never leave this place. This is my home and no one will ever take it from me,” Robinson said. “Instead of walking the streets, I’d rather be here in peace and quiet.”
Robinson and others who are included in permanent housing programs are assigned case managers who check in to see how they’re doing and encourage them to make counseling appointments. They also let them know about classes that can teach them the rudiments of having their own place: how to shop for groceries, wash dishes and how to keep their apartments clean and safe.
The case managers can also help them cut through the bureaucracy if they are eligible for Social Security or disability payments.
But for the homeless housing programs to succeed, more money and more apartments are needed, officials say.
Broward’s Continuum of Care, which handles homeless initiatives, is only about a quarter of the way to reaching its $11.9 million goal of annual funding to provide permanent housing, Wright said.
Last year, the county was able to place 285 individuals or households in homes through rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing programs, Wright said.
About 95 percent of the available units are filled. The county is considering ways to encourage more landlords to accept formerly homeless people as tenants, possibly through the use of monetary incentives or providing a reserve that landlords could tap if a tenant damages an apartment.
If officials can get the homeless a place to live, chances are they’ll stay there, Wright said.
“Most people that get housed stay housed,” he said.