Broward’s shown leadership in addressing homelessness

Research has definitively shown that the warehousing of homeless individuals in temporary shelters does not lead to stable housing. Actually, federal grant money would be jeopardized if used for that purpose.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board recently published an op-ed regarding the forcible removal of homeless individuals from Stranahan Park. While I applaud the editorial board for bringing this issue to the public’s attention, as a county commissioner and member of the Broward County Homeless Continuum of Care (CoC) Board, I feel it’s incumbent upon me to set the record straight regarding the county’s strong leadership role in addressing the issue of homelessness.

The editorial board asserted that “Given the federal money it [Broward County] receives to address homeless issues, the county should be in the lead. But its leadership is hard to spot.” In fact, I don’t believe the county’s leadership is hard to spot. Broward County is the lead agency for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) funds. The HUD CoC Program funds are based on 16 entitlement cities, including Broward County. These funds may not be given to individual cities, but must come through, and be coordinated by, the CoC lead agency. All federal funders are required to coordinate homeless services through the COC, and the cities are a part of this coordinated planning process.

In addition to serving as the lead agency, Broward is one of a few CoC’s in the U.S. that has created a dedicated, recurring local funding source for homeless services. Since 2013, Broward County has invested $43 million of its own dollars and helped over 25,000 people experiencing homelessness. In the 2016 HUD application, Broward County provided a 125 percent match of $457,094, which more than doubled the size of the project, targeting permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless in the Fort Lauderdale area.

The county is staunchly opposed to the use of the county stockade as a shelter for those who are homeless, and has taken a formal position supporting a comprehensive, housing first continuum of care model — not a crisis sheltered system of care. Research has definitively shown that the warehousing of homeless individuals in temporary shelters does not lead to stable housing. Actually, federal grant money would be jeopardized if used for that purpose.

The key to ending homelessness, which has been illustrated in cities and counties across the country, is rapid re-housing and permanent supportive housing combined with intensive case management, including behavioral health and substance abuse services. Expansion of housing stock rather than shelter beds is essential to implementing community-wide plans to end homelessness.

While the county is under no constitutional or legal mandate to provide services to the homeless, I believe there is a moral mandate to do so. Broward County has and will continue to take a leadership role in addressing homelessness; but a collective effort, including financial commitments from our 31 municipalities and other partners, is essential to success. Collaboration and coordination with our municipalities, the business community, faith-based organizations, law enforcement, and social service agencies is critical to ending homelessness in Broward County.