420.621 Definitions. - Florida Statutes

420.621 Definitions.

As used in ss. 420.621-420.628, the term:

   (1) “Continuum of care” means the community components needed to organize and deliver housing and services to meet the specific needs of people who are homeless as they move to stable housing and maximum self-sufficiency. It includes action steps to end homelessness and prevent a return to homelessness.

   (2) “Council on Homelessness” means the council created in s. 420.622.

   (3) “Department” means the Department of Children and Family Services.

   (4) “District” means a service district of the department, as set forth in s. 20.19.

   (5) “Homeless,” applied to an individual, or “individual experiencing homelessness” means an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and includes an individual who:

   (a) Is sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;

   (b) Is living in a motel, hotel, travel trailer park, or camping ground due to a lack of alternative adequate accommodations;

   (c) Is living in an emergency or transitional shelter;

   (d) Has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings;

   (e) Is living in a car, park, public space, abandoned building, bus or train station, or similar setting; or

   (f) Is a migratory individual who qualifies as homeless because he or she is living in circumstances described in paragraphs (a)-(e).

The terms do not refer to an individual imprisoned pursuant to state or federal law or to individuals or families who are sharing housing due to cultural preferences, voluntary arrangements, or traditional networks of support. The terms include an individual who has been released from jail, prison, the juvenile justice system, the child welfare system, a mental health and developmental disability facility, a residential addiction treatment program, or a hospital, for whom no subsequent residence has been identified, and who lacks the resources and support network to obtain housing.

   (6) “Local coalition for the homeless” means a coalition established pursuant to s. 420.623.

   (7) “New and temporary homeless” means individuals or families who are homeless due to societal factors.

   (8) “State Office on Homelessness” means the state office created in s. 420.622.

History. s. 9, ch. 87-106; s. 18, ch. 92-58; s. 20, ch. 93-200; s. 202, ch. 99-8; s. 9, ch. 2001-98; s. 2, ch. 2009-164.