This story is part of a collaborative initiative of independent local news outlets working towards a more informed and engaged Central Florida.
On Thursday, nearly 400 volunteers wrapped up this year’s homeless Point-In-Time count.
Led by the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, Orlando Metro’s main federally-funded agency to address homelessness, the annual count aims to gather a fairly accurate number for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness at a given point in time in the region.
However, the agency’s COO, Brian Postlewait, said the current state law and Orange County ordinance banning public sleeping and camping could potentially impact his team’s ability this year to get an accurate count.
“The enactment of HB 1365 really has given us pause as we come into this count, and we're not certain what we're going to expect. We have a hunch that people feel the anxiety about being arrested for being on public property sleeping or camping. So, we're interested to find out if that really makes a difference in our point time count,” he said.
This annual, three-day task requires hundreds of volunteers to fan across Orange, Seminole, and Osceola counties to count people they find either in the streets, in public property, or in shelters. The count does not include people sleeping in cars or hotels, or staying with friends and family or in transitional housing.
The agency is responsible for the count and for sending their findings to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, better known as HUD. This is how funding allotments and public awareness campaigns can be better planned to serve the needs of different regions across the country. It also helps HUD determine a national count.
Last year’s count more than doubled. This was in part due to a large volunteer force, as well as an increase in local cases.
But Postlewait said the new laws targeting people experiencing homelessness have changed how many people approach the issue and how the community of unhoused people is reacting.
He said that, for the first time, their team is not entirely sure what to expect.
“It could make people less willing to speak with us. This new law, we believe, is eroding trust between law enforcement and people experiencing homelessness; it is eroding trust between service providers and people experiencing homelessness. And this is the consequence of the draconian law that was enacted this year,” he said.
Results for the count will be published later this year.
Lillian Hernández Caraballo is a Report for America corps member.
