- April 23, 2024
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Seven of the 12 recommendations by Robert Marbut, the consultant hired to help the city of Sarasota and Sarasota County address homelessness issues, have been substantially completed, according to an update from County Administrator Tom Harmer.
Harmer sent the commissioners an email Tuesday listing the initiatives and their statuses, including updates since his last report in November.
County staff has talked with community groups such as Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army in the best methods to engage homeless, and is developing a public service announcement educating the community on the effect of giving cash to homeless. This PSA will be a part of a community awareness campaign with help of the community organizations. This effort is in conjunction with first of Marbut’s recommendations: turning the county from a culture of enablement to a culture of engagement.
Another of Marbut’s recommendations was to increase the number of longer-term housing options for families with children. At the Dec. 9 meeting, commissioners approved a $500,000 block grant for Catholic Charities to purchase and renovate four homes in North Port, and is also in the process of allocating $200,000 as a one-time fund for Harvest House to renovate nine duplex homes and one house in MLK. All of these units will be used for temporary housing for homeless families, according to Harmer’s report.
One recommendation is complete, but has an uncertain outlook: implementing master case management systems for families and for adults. The systems have already been developed and operating for two months, with help from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. However Harmer’s report said that without a Come As You Are shelter, implementing the systems will be difficult because the county doesn’t have a single point of entry to document incoming and outgoing homeless. County and social agency staff will meet Feb. 5 to discuss how to implement the case management systems cohesively between all points of entry.
