JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Homeward Bound program has helped more than 500 homeless people return to their families since it began in October 2024, the agency said.
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JSO said between Oct. 1, 2024, and Aug. 12, there have been 507 travelers through the Homeward Bound program.
The program is in response to a bill that makes public camping or sleeping on or in any public property or building unlawful unless designated by the city.
A homeless person can return to their family in another city with a one-way bus ticket home under the program. JSO said it doesn’t cost the person or taxpayers anything because it’s fully paid for using funds from criminal seizures.
Homeward Bound can be used at the Downtown Vision Inc. office on West Monroe Street and ask to use the program. An officer will check for warrants or pending cases. The officer will complete a ‘Homeward Bound Travel Release’ form to determine where the traveler is going and who will meet them at their final destination.
JSO released a video on its X (formerly Twitter) account that shows the process of an officer reaching out to a homeless person and some of the problems that come along with homeless encampments, especially if they’re near newly developed apartments.
Michael Alexis is experiencing homelessness. He has keys to a house, but he can’t live in it because of a court order barring him from being near someone in that house.
“So I can’t go to the house, so I have to live somewhere,” Alexis said.
He said most nights, that’s somewhere downtown.
Alexis said the Homeward Bound Program doesn’t address the full issue of homelessness. He said the city needs to provide people like him with services like mental evaluations or job opportunities.
“Instead of using that as a forerun, start at home, see what you can do to change the situation and if there’s no way to rectify the situation send them home,” Alexis said.
City officials said residents can report a homeless encampment or person living on the streets at 904-630-CITY (2489), visit myjax.custhelp.com or email myjax@custhelp.com . That information will be routed to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department’s Providing Assistance to the Homeless (JFRD PATH) Team for outreach.
JFRD PATH has been connecting homeless people to resources since late November 2024. The city said as of Jan. 9, 2025, there have been more than 900 contacts and 60 people have been taken to the Trinity Mission shelter.
The Deegan administration released a 12-point plan, with a proposed budget for 2024-2025, where she wanted to allocate $10 million towards homelessness efforts.
City Council approved $1 million of the $10 million, for the JFRD PATH team.
A few of the businesses downtown said they haven’t seen a difference in the number of the unhoused population since the program started.
News4JAX also asked JSO how many people they’ve helped through the program in the past five years and is waiting to hear back.