Sarasota News Leader

06/06/2014

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hired caseworker for the city is gathering case histories, and staff is working with The Salvation Army to define subgroups within the overall homeless population. "[City Police Chief Bernadette] DiPino and I continue to try and refine our approach," he said. "It will be nine to 12 months before a shel- ter opens, if everything is smooth sailing." He added that the annual "point-in-time census" of the homeless in Sarasota County identified 167 of them as veterans. "I'm looking for your assistance and direction on how to structure our efforts locally," he told the commission. Barwin then said he would recommend two priorities: "One is a focus on homeless vets. … No. 2, the dozen or two toughest mental health challenges. Some [homeless people] are flat-out diagnosed with schizophrenia, but we can only get them off the street two or three days." Barwin added that he has met with the pub- lic defender in the 12th Judicial Circuit, the state attorney, the court administrator, rep- resentatives from mental health agencies and others. "The single largest gap is in the mental health arena. It is a huge weakness. On Nov. 25, 2013, consultant Robert Marbut presented his recommendations on handling the community's homelessness issues. Photo by Norman Schimmel Sarasota News Leader June 6, 2014 Page 24

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