JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville city leaders are touting a major decrease in the number of unsheltered homeless individuals around our region.
New statistics show our region saw a 49 percent drop in the unsheltered homeless population compared to last year, representing one of the biggest year-over-year decreases Northeast Florida has ever seen.
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Between Clay, Nassau and Duval Counties, the most recent count conducted in January found a total of 290 unsheltered homeless individuals.
Last year’s count documented 566 unsheltered homeless individuals.
Counting all sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals, 1,009 in total were identified between the three counties this year.
That’s down 336 people compared to 2024.
Related: ‘Compassionate approach’: Jacksonville council approves $1.3M for additional homeless shelter beds
“It’s been a tremendous reduction. Anyone that works or walks downtown can tell it,” said Council Finance Chair Ron Salem (R-Group 2 At-Large).
Salem attributed the drop to investments the city made to expand shelter bed capacity and create outreach teams within JFRD.
Those teams have made contact with 562 individuals to date.
There’s also the new state law banning public sleeping and camping.
“If not for what the state legislators put in place, I don’t think we would have done what we did,” said Salem.
JSO has issued 775 warnings and made 198 arrests for public sleeping and camping since November 1st.
But the agency isn’t solely focused on enforcement.
JSO’s homeward bound program, which helps pay travel expenses for homeless individuals to return to areas where they have better support systems, has been utilized by 391 people since last October.
“If they want to go back home, they facilitate that, which to me is the most compassionate thing to do,” said Salem.
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In a statement, Mayor Donna Deegan called the latest stats “encouraging” but noted there is more work to be done.
“It shows that we’re on the right track since the city developed a strategic plan, launched the JFRD PATH outreach team, and expanded available shelter beds. It’s important to note that this one data point is also a snapshot in time. We know there is more to do. We must continue the work with our community partners to move people into housing and grow the forward progress,” said Deegan.
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