Broward County outlines shelter surge, funding and new partnerships after cold-weather response

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — Broward County staff told the Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 3 that the county mobilized shelters and partner organizations during a late‑January cold snap and temporarily housed many more people than usual while expanding medical respite and other supports.

Patrice Baldino, introduced to the board to provide a high‑level overview of county homelessness programs, said the county’s homelessness services team manages the Continuum of Care and the HMIS data system and coordinates with nonprofit providers and cities. Baldino said Broward has “approximately 600 beds available in our shelters” under normal operations and that in the recent surge staff sheltered about 192 additional people in temporary capacity.

That response relied on multiple partners, Baldino told the commission. The Salvation Army, local nonprofit partners such as Caring Place and Hope South Florida, the Mills Center and other sites were used; the county added 18 beds via reestablished relationships with providers and increased medical respite capacity by 10 beds through a partnership that shifts nursing care responsibility to Broward Health.

The presentation also outlined the county’s fiscal support for homelessness in fiscal year 2025. Baldino reported general‑fund spending of approximately $28,000,000 and grant funding near $19,000,000 — a combined total the county described as a little over $46,000,000 — and she credited Broward County Aviation ($500,000) and Broward County Transit ($540,000) for targeted outreach funding.

Commissioners deferred detailed follow‑up questions to a planned homeless workshop but requested that staff return with more data. Commissioner Furr, among others, said metrics would be useful to evaluate new initiatives such as a pilot that used hotel units purchased by the AIDS Health Foundation; Baldino reported the hotel pilot used 16 units to shelter 20 people at $750 per unit monthly and that some households had transitioned from the pilot to other, more permanent housing.

Baldino described several operational practices behind placement decisions, including the use of two dedicated street outreach teams (one contracted through a task force for individuals and another for families through Care Resource) and a vulnerability assessment in the county’s coordinated entry system so that placement is based on need rather than first‑come, first‑served.

The county signaled a follow‑up: staff said the presentation was intended as a high‑level overview and that commissioners requested a deeper dive at a scheduled homeless workshop to review policy options, metrics and long‑term planning. "We'll do it at the workshop unless you wanna add something now," the mayor said during the meeting.

What’s next: The board will consider the homelessness overview at a dedicated workshop for more detailed policy discussion and metrics reporting.