Task force recommendations are on the way to local government and nonprofit officials to streamline services and increase the “street graduation rate” of the homeless.

But one piece — the one regarding public ordinances banning outdoor camping and panhandling — will be debated at the task force’s next meeting on Friday, Sept. 5.

The task force, created to address services for the homeless, hired consultant Robert Marbut, who gained prominence in the field through his work in San Antonio.

The four recommendations approved by the task force at the July 29 meeting are:

-- Move to a culture of engagement. “This vision should no longer be to “serve” the homeless community, but instead to dramatically and consequentially increase “street graduation rates,’” the proposal reads. “Handouts given outside of recovery programs (e.g. camping equipment, food and cash) although well-intentioned by nice folks, actually perpetuate and increase homelessness through enablement.”

This change of culture will need to be communicated to the homeless community, the public, service agencies that help the homeless, the faith community and tourists alike, the proposal indicates.

--Transform the Homeless Management Information System to a case management model. That means that all agencies that serve the homeless must use this data management system; updates to it must be in real time; and funding to service agencies by foundations, government agencies, the United Way and the Continuum of Care should be contingent upon participation in the HMIS system.

It also recommends that a universal release form be created and used by all agencies.

-- Increase the number of emergency housing units for families with children. Ideally, Loaves and Fishes, the lead local agency that helps families with children, should add between 24 and 37 emergency housing units. They have a waiting list of 106 people waiting to move into transitional housing. The increase can be phased in for budget reasons, the proposal indicates. Also, the program cycle should be lengthened from the current three weeks to the national best-practices standard of eight weeks.

-- Establish come-as-you-are services at the Waterfront Rescue Mission. This would make the mission the main intake portal for adult homeless people in the city and county.

“All adult homeless services should spoke off of this hub,” the proposal reads. Once those services are operational, all countywide street feeding programs, food pantry programs and day-time services centers for adult homeless men and women should be relocated to that campus.

The model for come-as-you-are services is considered Pinellas Safe Harbor and Prospects Courtyard at Haven for Hope in San Antonio. Services included (at least for initial evaluation with some off-campus referrals for treatment) are case management, medical, dental, vision, mental health, addiction treatment, job placement and skills recovery, as well as transitional housing and meals, including coordination of delivery and prep from nonprofits and churches.

“A robust buffer around CAYA might need to be developed,” the proposal reads. “(So that) CAYA must be a ‘good neighbor.’”

Homeless ordinances

Yet to be voted on by the task force is the final recommendation that deals with modifying ordinances regarding public camping, bathing and panhandling.

According to the agenda for the Friday meeting, whatever ordinances are ultimately put in place, they must be coordinated between the city and county and be able to withstand legal challenge. The task force says it will recommend broad principles for the ordinances, but drafting them will be left to the city attorney’s office. They do provide drafts of such laws in Sarasota County as a guide.

It is likely to be a heated discussion.

The City of Pensacola’s “camping ordinances” acted as a lightning rod that spurred the local task force’s creation. They included the “blanket ban,” which banned people from covering up in public places. It also banned bathing, shaving or sleeping in public restrooms; public urination or defecation; panhandling in certain areas including at a bus stop, a public transportation facility, within 20 feet of an ATM or near certain streets in the urban core of the Community Redevelopment Area.

A harsh winter this year stirred outrage over the blanket ban. Local homeless advocates took to social media and created a Change.org petition to rescind the rule, which City Council amended.

Sarasota’s rules

Sarasota County is in the final approval stages of its ordinances, which prohibit public camping, storage of personal property in public rights of way or on public property, public elimination and panhandling.

Of note, in the camping prohibition, a law enforcement officer must afford the person the chance to remove his or her camping gear or shelter, find that there is an available shelter the person can go to and offer to take him there. The person must refuse that offer before the officer can issue a summons or make an arrest under that ordinance.

Also people using public parks, natural areas and recreation areas in accordance with the posted rules are exceptions to the prohibition.

The idea that some of these behaviors would remain criminal violations clearly doesn’t sit well with some task force members.

Sara Latshaw, director of the Northwest Region of the American Civil Liberties Union, resigned from the task force by email on Aug. 26.

“I must resign from the homeless task force,” Latshaw wrote to Eric Olsen, initiatives coordinator with the mayor’s office. “I do not support the criminalization of homelessness, nor does the ACLU, Thus, I will not take part in the review/recommendations of ordinances to City Council and hope the task force will reconsider such measures.”

Reached Tuesday for a statement, she provided the following:

"Unfortunately, the task force seems to be looking for solutions in a place where it is only going to find more problems," she wrote. "Not every problem a city faces can be solved through the criminalizing conduct, and we’ve seen throughout Florida that when communities ban life-sustaining activities, people suffer.

"In fact, the proven solution to homelessness involves breaking the destructive feedback loop of people being criminally charged for doing things to survive and instead providing housing and stability to help people get on their feet.

"Being poor and in need is not a crime, and instead of wasting law enforcement resources on the failed idea of punishing people for being in need of help, our community should be extending a hand to help solve the problems that cause homelessness in the first place."

Want to go?

The City of Pensacola Task Force on Improving Human Services will meet at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, in the Hagler/Mason Conference Room, second floor, City Hall, 222 W. Main St.  The agenda for this meeting is attached and will be posted on the city's website: www.cityofpensacola.com.

EXTRAS:

The 2013 Point in Time survey results of the area's homeless. And Part 2.

Task Force member Nathan Monk's report on his visit to San Antonio.

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