It simply wasn't enough of a priority
for legislators to pass
Among the failures of the recently ended Florida legislative session was a provision that would have waived the cost of drivers licenses for the impoverished — something other states such as Michigan have done to help people get back to work.
The cost would've been minuscule — a fraction of a percent of the money set aside for businesses incentives. Yet the need is great.
Most of us can't appreciate the ramifications of not having proper ID. But the problem is severe -- we're talking 400 people lined up at 6 a.m. when
IDignity holds an ID day. Seeking help are homeless veterans who have been mugged, battered women who lost all their possessions and proud fathers trying to make new lives for their family.
Read Scott Maxwell's column in the
Orlando Sentinel here.
And please think about donating your time -- or money -- to IDignity.
Volunteers envision resource center
for Orlando's homeless
A group of loosely organized but devout volunteers is trying to succeed in doing what a decade of government officials, task forces and regional commissions have not -- creating a downtown Orlando drop-in center for the homeless.
The collaboration, which doesn't yet have a name, includes several local faith-based groups that have been sharing food and spiritual encouragement with the homeless at Lake Eola Park. Their effort was spawned in large part by the city's anti-feeding law, which sharply restricts food-sharing events of more than 25 people in downtown parks. Last month, a federal appeals court ruled that the law is constitutional.
"I still am bothered by the ruling, and I still feel the city is trying to hide the problem of homelessness," said P.J. Charles, executive director of
Straight Street Orlando, a Christian ministry that helps the homeless. "But, ultimately, we're not in this to be political. We just want to help people."
Read the
Orlando Sentinel report
here.
High court hears arguments
in Providence’s eviction of homeless
Tent cities that have sprung up around the country have become a symbol of the problem of homelessness. Sometimes, shelters become too crowded to accommodate everyone. Sometimes, the homeless decide that shelters are unsafe, that they’d do better to band together and find a place outdoors to reside.
Two volunteer lawyers representing homeless people who, for a time during 2009, lived in a city park in Providence, Rhode Island, urged the state Supreme Court to vacate a preliminary injunction issued by a lower court judge.
They argued that the city used the wrong legal vehicle to try to eject the homeless group.
Read the
Providence Journal report
here.
Making mischief with Food Not Bombs
Orlando Food Not Bombs gets a mention at Common Dreams. Read about it
here.
Welfare drug test bill lands
on Florida governor's desk
Applying for welfare benefits in Florida? Soon you’ll need to get drug tested.
A measure requiring the tests has passed the Senate and is headed to Gov. Rick Scott, who is likely to sign the bill. He first floated the idea before he even took office and has also authorized random drug testing of state employees.
HB 353 requires all adult recipients of federal cash benefits — the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program — to pay for the tests, which are typically around $35. The screen would be for all controlled substances and applicants would have to disclose any legal prescriptions.
Recipients who test positive for drugs would lose their benefits for a year. If they fail a second time, they lose the benefits for three years. Parents who test positive must designate another adult to receive benefits on behalf of their children.
Read the
Miami Herald report
here.
It just doesn't seem right to test people and cut off benefits at the same time that the state is reducing the treatment services available.
And then there's the troubling fact that Scott owns a mega-chain of walk-in clinics that do, among other things, drug testing. He proudly claims that he divested his interest in the company when he got elected -- by transferring all his shares to his wife.
Finally, it's likely unconstitutional. Michigan tried it a few years ago, and its testing program was struck down as unconstitutional in a case called
Marchwinski v. Howard.
3 homeless camps will be closed
in aftermath of murder
St. Louis city leaders plan to close three tent villages on the Mississippi riverfront by this summer after a homeless photographer was arrested on allegations of stabbing and killing a fellow camp resident.
Robert Allen Boettcher, 50, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Prosecutors say he got into a fight with Adrian Henderson, 36, and stabbed him multiple times with a knife.
City Hall officials said it was just the most recent spat in the dirt roads, tarp-covered tents and plywood shacks a few dozen feet from the river.
The city's intent is to find permanent housing — not emergency shelters — for every camp resident, said Bill Siedhoff, the city's director of human services. His department has been working for at least two months to put together a plan to do that.
Boettcher made a name for himself in the homeless community by advocating for squatters' rights, blogging at
Hopeville and taking photos of the camps and riverfront scenes.
Read the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch report
here.
Homeless campers sue to block state
from destroying their belongings
Six homeless people are suing Oregon’s Department of Transportation, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and up to 50 unidentified county and state employees in federal court for what they say were violations of their Fourth Amendment constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure.
The lawsuit targets ODOT’s sweeps of camps and the plaintiffs want a federal judge to force the agency to follow its own rules on preserving personal property found at campsites. The plaintiffs are also seeking an injunction against the state and county to block public employees from taking personal property from campsites without adequate notice and without posting information about how to retrieve the items.
The plaintiffs -- Joel Tucker, Steven Fletcher, Jeff Nelson, Robert Dean Thomas, Chanda Waulters and Mitchal Poncel -- lost personal items they said were taken during sweeps and then either lost or destroyed. The items included bicycles, sleeping bags, boots, transit passes, medication and ID cards and birth certificates.
Read the
Portland Tribune report
here.
