JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The City of Jacksonville is "ready with a plan" ahead of a new Florida law going into effect Tuesday that will ban people from sleeping outside, but the mayor emphasized additional funding is needed to produce a more permanent solution for the city's homeless population.
In July, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan introduced a 12-step plan to comply with the state's new Unauthorized Public Camping and Public Sleeping law.
The plan included expanding shelter capacity, increasing homeless outreach, developing 24/7 intake plans and building a temporary 100-bed shelter.
City council approved an ordinance on Sept. 24 appropriating roughly $1 million to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department to help implement the plan. This includes establishing a JFRD 24/7 EMS Response Team, assisting in providing access to mental health and substance abuse programs and connecting those experiencing homelessness with long-term assistance programs. The ordinance also approved seven new positions in the department.
Jacksonville nonprofit Changing Homelessness officials told First Coast News earlier this month that funding EMS personnel will help address the root problems contributing to homelessness, like mental health issues and substance abuse.
"We're grateful that JFRD has stepped up really an elegant solution to the teams that we need to make contact with these folks," Deegan told reporters Monday, emphasizing the city will require more funding to address the situation entirely.
The mayor said officials are working with stakeholders to ensure the city is complying with the new state law.
Although, to fully implement the state law, the mayor's plan estimated a maximum cost for one year to exceed $13.6 million; only a fraction of that was approved.
"We need more money. There's no question that we do," she said. "We're started off with a minimal amount of funding right now and as we go, it'll get us started. But as we go, we're gonna need to add more to that."
Deegan's plan outlines the goal to achieve "functional zero" in Jacksonville, meaning the number of individuals who become homeless is the same number of people who find permanent housing during the same year.
Deegan said Monday that the city still has a "long way to go" before this goal is reached.
"We're working to create more housing. We're working to create more services, more mental services, anything that people need as they are facing homelessness to get them back into the mainstream," she said. "I think this first step with JFRD is a very important one."