Here’s How Much Miami’s New Restroom for the Homeless Cost – Complete With Needle Exchange

By The Blaze. Homeless advocates are praising Miami for the installation of the first public restroom in the downtown area – complete with a needle exchange. . .

The $300,000 project was spearheaded by the Downtown Development Authority, a “semi-autonomous tax-funded agency.” . . .

The restroom will be open 12 hours a day, and will have attendants during those hours hired from a Miami homeless shelter.

The city is gearing up to end an agreement to protect the homeless from law enforcement, and the bathroom is one way to manage the homeless population as they pursue the new policy.

The agreement came as a result from a lawsuit by the ACLU that accused police of acting unconstitutionally when arresting homeless people for “life-sustaining” activities like urinating in public or sleeping on a sidewalk. (Read more from “Here’s How Much Miami’s New Restroom for the Homeless Cost – Complete With Needle Exchange” HERE)

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Seattle Homeless-Services Providers See Mixed Results, Some to Face Penalties

By The Seattle Times. eattle homeless-service providers are helping more homeless people off the streets this year than last, but 35 percent fell short of new performance targets in their contracts, according to data released on Friday.

City officials said Friday that Seattle would impose financial penalties for missing contracted goals intended to boost the number of people who found “permanent exits” from homelessness, ending months of speculation among service providers, some of which have previously asked city officials to reconsider how performance figures are calculated. . .

Earlier this year, the city announced $34 million in new contract awards, marking the first time homeless-services contracts were competitively rebid in a decade. In another important development, the city tied pay to performance and set an ambitious goal to double the number of people who would be moved out of homelessness and into permanent housing. All told, Seattle has planned to spend more than $86 million on more than a dozen departments to address the homelessness crisis this year. (Read more from “Seattle Homeless-Services Providers See Mixed Results, Some to Face Penalties” HERE)

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