(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.)- As the cost of living continues to soar in South Florida, families across the area are being priced out of paradise and forced into homelessness, WPTV reports.
Estimating the numbers of homeless people is notoriously difficult, but a count of the homeless that was conducted in January 2013 found that 1,559 individuals are homeless in Palm Beach County at a given point in time. Past estimates indicate that there are between 600 and 4,000 homeless individuals on any given day in Palm Beach County.
Florida Rural Legal Services' Executive Director Jaffe Pickett has been appointed to join the Palm Beach County Homeless Advisory Board-Ad Hoc Committee on Eviction Data.
Pickett, along with FRLS' Marketing and Communications Director Denise Sawyer, will convene with other community partners and county officials to discuss eviction data.
A variety of problems increase a person’s risk for homelessness including unemployment, poor physical health, mental illness, disability, substance abuse, domestic violence, or lack of affordable housing.
The Homeless Advisory Board, comprised of 14 members, was established by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners on May 1, 2007.
The Board’s mission is the development of the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness as conceived by HUD; “leading a collaborative planning process to design, execute, and evaluate programs, policies and practices to prevent and end homelessness.”
Responsibilities of the Palm Beach County Homeless Advisory Board
The responsibilities of the Homeless Advisory Board are to assist the County in reaching its Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness goals. These responsibilities include the following:
- Review progress made in the County towards achieving the objectives identified in the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness and make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. The primary recommendations may include systematic changes, policy changes, and funding recommendations.
- Foster and promote cooperation between governmental agencies, community-based non-governmental non-profit organizations and business interests in order to ensure the efficient and timely implementation of the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness.
- Provide information regarding the needs and other factors affecting the smooth implementation of the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness within Palm Beach County.
- Determine roadblocks affecting program implementation and recommend corrective measures to the Board of County Commissioners.
FRLS takes on Wrongful Evictions in Palm Beach County
Florida Rural Legal Services provides crucial legal aid services to vulnerable residents in 14 counties to protect them from eviction, including:
- Education and outreach to tenants at imminent risk of eviction;
- Access to improved technology to help prevent future barriers to renting;
- Assistance to tenants to avoid or reduce the negative impacts of a potential eviction, such as referrals to other service providers like Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) administrators, as well as comprehensive legal services in other areas;
- Collaboration with courts, judges, and other parties to create and promote eviction diversion programs; and
- Legal representation in relation to legal filings and court proceedings, including negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the provision of limited representation and counsel and advice, as well as assistance filing fair housing complaints related to eviction.
If you are at risk of eviction and need help, call the FRLS Helpline at 1-888-582-3410.