An LTC (attached) dated from July 18, 2019, reported on discussions and recommendations made by the Miami Beach Committee on the Homeless during its July 2019 meeting. It included the following statement: “Our MBPD has specifically identified that they need more treatment beds for their groundbreaking and successful Marchman program getting treatment for our chronic population that have addition issues.”

The Committee also unanimously passed the following resolution: “The Committee on the Homeless supports an allocation of development fees to assist in housing for the most vulnerable people, described above, who are homeless or likely to become homeless, that will benefit from housing assistance and an allocation to a fund for MBPD and Homeless Outreach to draw from specifically for treatments beds, as needed to get people off the streets.”

Following this, Commissioner Samuelian placed the following item for referral on the July 31, 2019 City Commission agenda – C4 A – Referral to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee to explore increased funding for housing for the most vulnerable who are homeless or likely to become homeless. You can find below relevant information for this discussion.

The Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) has identified needs for two housing services that would address homelessness and victims of domestic violence who needs or be likely to need shelter and treatment.

1) Victims of Domestic Violence. MBPD advocates serve approximately 1,000 victims of domestic violence per year. Some victims require immediate housing to help safeguard them from their abusers and start their healing process. Options include shelter (Lotus House) and hotels rooms – pending number of victims, needs, availability, etc. Projected costs:

•  $150/bed x 7 nights = $1,050
•  $1,050 x 20 victims per year = $21,000

2) Marchman Act Program Participants. Currently, beds used to house participants are paid through a county wide state funded program. As such, beds are assigned to patients on a first come first serve basis resulting in bed space sometimes not being available to MBPD when needed. Paying for beds for the exclusive use of MBPD ensures space is always available to provide immediate treatment to the department’s Marchman Act participants. Projected costs for beds with wrap-around services (with each bed turning over 4 times per year)

•  $167/bed x 365 nights = $60,955
•  $60,955 x 3 beds per year = $182,865

Total funding for both programs: $203,865