Apartment rents cheaper than stays in homeless shelters
Cities, states and the federal government pay more to provide the homeless with short-term shelter and services than what it would cost to rent permanent housing.
In Jacksonville, one of the cities included in HUD's study of 9,000 families and individuals, the average bill for a month in an emergency shelter was $799. A market-rate, one-bedroom apartment costs $643.
Many communities probably don't know that they are spending as much "to maintain a cot in a gymnasium with 100 other cots" as it would cost to rent an efficiency apartment, says
Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies housing policies. "We are paying for a form of housing that is largely substandard, and we are paying as much, if not more, than standard conventional housing."
Read the report, "Costs Associated with First-Time Homelessness for Families and Individuals,"
here. And read the
USA Today story
here.
Church files third lawsuit against Palm Beach County
For the third time, Palm Beach County's self-described, de facto homeless shelter is suing the Palm Beach County government.
In a 19-page lawsuit, the church accuses the county of operating a criminal enterprise to keep Westgate Tabernacle Church from ministering to the homeless.
The latest lawsuit, which comes less than a month after its suit against the county was thrown out of federal court, turns on information church pastor Avis Hill said he uncovered about Terry Verner, the former county code enforcement director. At the same time Verner was citing the church for code violations, he was dropping his brother-in-law off at the shelter, Hill claims.
The action, attorney Barry Silver says, shows the county knew there was no other place for homeless people to go yet hid that knowledge when it won a 2007 trial. After that nine-day trial, a six-person jury found that the county didn't trample on the church's right to religious freedom.
The Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the decision, ruling that the church needs a county permit to operate a homeless shelter. In
the ruling, judges acknowledged that the church can't get a permit because it doesn't have enough space to accommodate 100 people a night.
Read the
Palm Beach Post report
here. (There's lots of previous posts about this so use the search function at the top.)
Federal judge dismisses much
of homeless lawsuit against St. Petersburg
It looks like a major victory for the city of St. Petersburg. A federal judge has tossed out nine allegations in a
lawsuit that accuses St. Petersburg of violating the rights of homeless people by enforcing a series of punitive ordinances.
Essentially, the ruling upholds the city's right to arrest people for sleeping during the day in downtown public rights of way and storing personal property on public land. The city also has the right to ban people from city property if they had committed crimes there before.
Judge Steven Merryday also denied class action status for the lawsuit, meaning the scope of those making the allegations is limited to the five named plaintiffs.
"We're obviously disappointed with the court's decision," said Catherine Bendor, an attorney with the
National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. "We'd prefer that the city devote its resources to alternatives to criminalizing homelessness. We're considering our options at this point with respect to this litigation."
Two allegations remain: that police have no right to ask homeless people for identification and that it's cruel and unusual punishment to arrest people for public urination when restrooms aren't available. Assistant City Attorney Joseph Patner said the city will file a motion asking for those to be dismissed as well.
Read the
St. Petersburg Times story
here.
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