The Florida camping ban can affect the homeless fight against

This story, which originally appeared in Central Florida Public Media, is part of a collaborative initiative of independent local news agencies that work towards a more well -founded and committed central florida.

Almost 400 volunteers have completed this year's homeless points in the period.

Under the leadership of the annual meter from the homeless service Network from Central Florida, the main agency of Orlando Metro, the annual counting aims to collect a fairly precise number for people with unshakable homelessness at a certain point in time in the region.

The agency's COO, Brian Postlewait, said, however, that the current state law and the corresponding local regulations for the ban on public sleep and camping could possibly have a precise count of the skills of his team this year.

“The entry into force of HB 1365 really stopped us when we come into this count, and we are not sure what we will expect. We have a guess that people are afraid of being arrested because they sleep or camp on public property. So we are interested in finding out whether this really makes a difference in our score, ”he said.

This annual, three -day task had to subject hundreds of volunteers in Orange, Seminole and Oscola Counties to count people who can find either on the streets, in public property or in shelters. The number includes no people who sleep in cars or hotels or stay with friends and family or in transitional accommodation.

The agency is responsible for the count and for the transmission of its results to the US Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, better known as Hud. In this way, financing allocations and campaigns for public sensitization can be better planned in order to meet the needs of different regions across the country. It also helps to determine a national count.

The count of last year has more than doubled. This was partly due to a great volunteer and an increase in local cases.

According to Postlewait, the new laws that are directed with people with homelessness have changed how many people are approaching the topic and how the community reacted.

He said that your team was not quite sure for the first time.

“It could be less willing to speak to us. We believe that this new law undermines the trust between law enforcement authorities and people with homelessness. It erodes the trust between service providers and people who experience homelessness. And this is the result of the draconian law that was issued this year, ”he said.

The results for the number will be published later this year.