Broward County outlines homeless-services expansion, warns law could change outreach tactics

Patrice Baldino, director of Broward County’s Housing Options, Solutions and Supports Division, told the Broward Housing Council that the county is expanding outreach and experimenting with alternative housing models while monitoring the effects of a 2024 state law on how municipalities must respond to people sleeping on public property.

Baldino described the county’s role as the Continuum of Care collaborative applicant for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds, summarized service and shelter capacity, and presented second‑quarter outreach data and recent pilot programs. She also outlined steps the county is taking to respond to House Bill 1365, enacted October 2024.

Baldino said the county’s street outreach teams met 5,129 individuals in the second quarter, representing 3,500 households, and that 996 people met the county’s definition of chronically homeless. She noted the county owns the North and Central Homeless Assistance Centers — together listed at 587 beds — and recently re‑contracted with a provider to add capacity at the Broward Outreach Center in Hollywood.

“We are the section…that manages all of the programs for the homeless across the county,” Baldino said, describing HOSD’s role in…