The Florida Roundup - Changes to child labor laws, Woodward and Bernstein reflect on Watergate, homelessness in Florida

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

This week on The Florida Roundup, we talked about proposed changes to the state’s child labor laws with Florida Rep. John Snyder (10:20) and WLRN’s investigative reporter Danny Rivero (05:02 & 16:53). Then, we spoke with legendary journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein about the current state of journalism and American Democracy (25:24). Plus, we round up some news stories about homelessness in Florida (37:12) before checking in on a new Orlando-area Volleyball team and preview “Never Drop the Ball,” a new documentary that explores how Black baseball players built a brand of baseball out of segregation and into a worldwide pastime (44:12).

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being along with us this week. You know, for years, if you were 16 or 17 years old in Florida, you could not work more than 30 hours a week during the school year. And you couldn't work more than eight hours a day if you had school the next day. If you were 15, you couldn't work more than 15 hours a week. But those restrictions are loosened under a bill that easily passed out of the Florida House Thursday and is gaining support in the Senate. This bill is about choice and opportunity for families. That's St. Pete Beach Republican Linda Cheney, who sponsored the legislation. I trust that our families and that our teens will make

the right choice for them in their own individual situation. Now, if this becomes law, 16 and 17 year olds will be able to work up to 40 hours a week. Supporters say that's still more restrictive than federal law. Jeff Holcomb is a Republican from Hernando County. Most kids, I would say 99% of the kids probably won't ever work past 30 hours in a week. They have other things to do. They have their social lives, their school, time with parents and friends. What we're doing here is creating a cheap workforce for big business. That's all we're doing. That's Broward County Democrat Robin Bartleman. Now Florida's unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the nation at 3%. It's below 2% in Miami-Dade and the Keys. This

legislation has the backing from the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. Now at least four states have passed similar bills pushed by the Foundation for Government Accountability. That's a conservative lobbying group based in southwest Florida. While Republicans frame these reform efforts as creating choice for teens and their families, Democrats say it removes protections for some of the most vulnerable young workers. Ashley Gant is a Miami-Dade Democrat. The children that are going to be the ones that are going to be

exploited by this bill are going to be poor children. Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Children from backgrounds of historically disenfranchised communities because they are the ones that are going to have to make up the gap, financial gaps of their homes. This bill, HB 49, is one of at least two measures changing work rules for children in Florida that a majority of lawmakers seem poised to approve. A second one allows 16 and 17-year-olds to do certain types of construction work. So how old were you when you got your first job? How many hours a week did you work? Did you feel safe? Overworked? How did you balance your work duties with your

homework? 305-995-1800. Call us now 305-995-1800. Share a quick story via email. The inbox is radio at the Florida roundup.org. Reporter Danny Rivero from our partner station WLRN in Miami spoke with one teen about her day and night of school and work. Oximadi Valdez is a senior in high school in Hialeah. After Oximadi finishes her school day, she plays soccer for her team, then does other extracurricular activities. Then she goes to work at a tutoring center. On a typical night, she'll make it back home around 10.30 p.m. to do the basic things. Shower, eat, do all my schoolwork. And that's on top of the clubs that I'm doing,

on top of an AP research project that I'm doing that takes a lot of my time. She and her friends have a group text where they talk about politics. And some are worried that if HB 49 becomes law, bosses might ask teenagers to work more and more hours because they can. So instead of five, her job could have her come in at three o'clock and so on. And that would lead to some tough choices for kids like her trying to finish high school. I would have to cut back on extracurriculars because I wouldn't have time for them. There are meetings, I think, twice a month for each club that I have.

And they are after school, and my job is after school. my job is after school so I would have to like find a way to either call off at work or like cut back my extracurriculars and like lower my like chances at college like lower my admissions chances by not being as involved in those clubs so in the end it's it's education or or money. I don't really appreciate how these representatives are throwing us into corporate America. Oksmati is applying for colleges right now in hopes of becoming a gynecologist. Danny Rivera joins us now from our partner station in Miami, WLRN. Danny, fascinating conversation with someone who is right at the heart of this legislation, but doesn't necessarily have a direct voice since they don't vote. Nationwide, about a third of teens are part of the workforce. It doesn't mean they work,

but they're actually available to work. How does the state think allowing Oksmani and others to work more hours could change that? Right. Well, the House sponsor of this bill, Linda Cheney, you know, speaking in a committee hearing last month, did cite some of the numbers and some of the historical numbers. She said in 1938, about 60 percent of 16 and 17-year-olds worked. Today, that's dropped significantly. She framed it in terms of this is a problem that should be solved. More of these teens should be working. I think that's one way of viewing it. Another potential way of viewing it is it might be good that kids are not working because they're they're more likely to be studying and whatnot. But she she said that, you know, a lot of the reason for that drop has been government restrictions.

Florida child labor law is more strict, has been more strict than the federal government for decades. has been more strict than the federal government for decades. And this would roll back some of those state-level protections, make Florida more in line with the federal government, and then she hopes it would get more teens working. In fact, there was a state staff analysis that said, yeah, allowing 16- and 17- 17 year olds in Florida to work more hours is likely to increase their labor participation. But it comes with some anticipated consequences, according to the analysis, right? Right. And, you know, in the way that it's,

you know, projected to turn out and, you, and just for listeners, the staff analysis, this is supposed to be a flat, neutral analysis of how proposed law will impact the state. This is not partisan. It's anything but partisan. And this is from staffers of the Florida House in this instance. And they said, yeah, it'll get more teenagers working. On the flip side, in the long term, those same children are probably going to have less education. They're probably going to have less access to skills. And they're going to be less likely to be holding jobs long term that give them health care benefits. So that's, you know, it's that's not that's not minor.

I mean, we are talking about education. It's right. It's right there in black and white. Yeah. And that nonpartisan staff analysis for lawmakers to consider 305-995-1800. We're talking about the Florida House on Thursday approving legislation easing restrictions on child labor laws allowing 16 and 17 year olds in Florida to work up to 40 hours a week during the school year. Let's hear from Steve who's been listening in in Jacksonville. Steve, go ahead,

you're on the radio. Yeah, I got my first paid job, meaning I actually paid income tax when I was working because I was working before that, mowing lawns. But if you ask me, it made a huge difference in my life working at 14 because I had to learn how to deal with people that really didn't care whether I succeeded or not. whether I succeeded or not. You know, with all the silly requirements that high schools have today, maybe actually working X number of hours before you graduate from high school would be one of the best requirements we could have. Steve, do you recall how many hours a week you were working there through your high school years? Well, I worked in the summer full time. Sure. At a bicycle shop. Yeah. Yeah. And Danny, correct me if I'm full-time at a bicycle shop. Yeah, and Danny, correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't change with this legislation. Right, right. You know, when school's not in session, I mean, you can work full-time. That doesn't change. I was still mowing lawns during work, so I was usually working about two hours, two to four hours a week at 14.

I also worked the bike shop whenever they had during the year, whenever they had a bump like for Christmas, even though, again, that was not during school. But I worked at a gas station at 16 during the school year. I've always worked. You and me both. That makes three of us here. That's a priority with our education system today is ultimately the idea is to have a job, not to feel better about yourself. Yeah, Steve, I appreciate you lending your voice there from Jacksonville. Certainly the education requirements have increased over the decades since any of the three of us, or at least Steve and I. Danny, you're still a young guy, but at least since Steve and I called a high school home.

You know, there's a couple of different pieces of legislation here. We've talked about one. There's also another piece of legislation that goes after teenagers and what they can do in residential construction sites. John Schneider is a Republican representing parts of Martin and Palm Beach counties. He supported the bill easing the restrictions on working for working 16 and 17 year olds and is the sponsor of this separate bill that would allow those teens to also work at residential construction sites. Representative, welcome back to the Florida Roundup. Nice to have you again. Let's start with the legislation that you voted for on Thursday.

Why did you support that bill allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to work more hours? Look, yesterday was a bill that was part of a larger effort as we really try and responsibly address the talent pipeline shortage that we know Florida is facing and you know one of those bills that got a lot of attention in the press but what we really get down into the weeds of the

language as we got that thing amended and it moved through the process feel like we've got it in a good spot that, again, brings just common sense guardrails for young adults who are looking to gain valuable work experience. Young adults, these are legally children, 16 and 17 year olds that are not adults. Right. Representative. So what is it the challenge? What's the labor pinch that this legislation and other pieces of legislation, including one you're sponsoring, trying to address? We see Florida has had record growth, which has been a wonderful thing. And one of the bills that I'm excited to sponsor this year is really an effort to take stock in the gains that we've had as a state over the last couple of years, really investing in our career and technical workforce. We know every sector has a shortage right now, whether it's health care, service, construction, skilled trades. And so certainly

with our workforce education bill, trying to bring those opportunities to young people and making sure that they have every opportunity to continue to pursue the American dream. How do these pieces of legislation try to increase, materially increase the labor supply? I'll be the first to admit, there's no single piece of legislation that will ever be a silver bullet to fix either the current or long-term issues that any state faces. But what we've done and we're doing in this session is trying to address one puzzle piece at a time as we work to address this larger issue. address this larger issue. And as someone who has spent my career in the human resources field, we know that if we're not planning 10, 15, 20 years ahead, we'll get caught flat-footed. And so that's really the exciting thing is trying to look into the future and make sure that that talent pipeline is there. Representative, my colleague, Danny Rivero, spoke with a Palm Beach County high school teacher named Ellen Baker.

They like money. A lot of kids don't like school. So this is a recipe to like money because you can make more money. But it's short-sighted because if you're going to drop out, your income is not going to increase later on. How would you respond? That's why the guardrails are in place. Again, certainly in House Bill 49, making sure that the parameters around kids being in school,

that is paramount. But I'll also be the first one to say that for far too long, and myself included, it's so easy to get looped into that conversation, you know, in that 16, 17 year old phase, hey, where are you going to college, and I'll be the one to say, the four year traditional brick and mortar works well for other or for many, but also for some, that might not be the best path. And so by infusing workforce programs, career and technical skills into our high schools and even our middle schools to make these kids aware of the opportunities, that's how we get folks turned on to a pathway of success and certainly not sitting at home playing video games all day. day. Your bill, Bill 917 in the House changes rules at construction sites does include also some of that technical training you spoke about. It would allow 16 and 17 year olds now to work at

residential construction sites in construction and on ladders up to six feet. The original version would allow 16 and 17 year olds to work on roofs. Why was the change made? There was some ambiguity in the drafting language. We knew from the get-go OSHA, which supersedes any state law, is very clear that 16 and 17 year olds are not allowed above a six-foot threshold. We did insert that in the amendment process just to restate federal law. Would you support loosening

labor restrictions for children younger than 16? No. Representative, let me ask you about enforcement. Over the past decade, 752 child labor violations were found in Florida by the federal government. The state did not respond to data when asked about it from our partner station in Miami. The Orlando Weekly has reported that the state has brought five child labor enforcement actions in the last fiscal year down from 33 years earlier. As a state legislator, are you satisfied with the state enforcement of child labor laws? Well, one of the things that we did last year was the creation of a Department of Commerce, a specific entity that is looking at how our businesses do comply with state standards. But at the end of the day, we also don't need to be duplicating unnecessary services. The Department of Labor, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Wage and Hour Division has ample staff. And at the end of the day, we want to partner with the feds to really deliver

efficient and workable government. So I would say currently satisfied with the lay of the land today. John Snyder is a Republican representative from Martin and Palm Beach counties. Representative Snyder, always great to have you on the program. Thanks for your time today. Great to be here, Tom. Thank you. WLRN investigative reporter Danny Rivera still with us. Danny, you got that data that I put in front of Representative Snyder uncovering that significant difference between federal child labor enforcement and state covering that significant difference between federal child labor enforcement and state enforcement. What do you make of his position? Well, it, you know, it is a, it's an interesting position to take. I mean, because the representative essentially said, you know, we don't want to duplicate efforts of the, of the federal government when the federal

government's already doing things. But the very point of the state of Florida having stricter standards than the federal government is that there's going to be some enforcement of it. And the federal government only enforces federal law, which is much more lax than state law. So, you know, from what I had in the data that I got, you know, last year, the federal government did 10 times the enforcement actions as a state government, even though federal law is much more lax, which essentially tells us that the state's not doing enforcement. And what kind of violations, state violations have been found? I've actually been bothering people at the Department of Business and Professional Regulations to give me any information

about what cases they've brought and I have not had luck, Tom, and I'm sorry about that. But at the federal level, a lot of it is working teens far too many hours kind of across the state, mostly in retail, working them late into the night during the school year, things like that. Yeah, we're talking about child labor in Florida. Tim sent us this email. I had a paper route in my suburban home outside Buffalo, New York,

in the seventh or eighth grades. It took me a bit over an hour after school, so in total I worked less than seven hours per week. Tim, I got my journalism start in the distribution end of the business as well as a paper boy back in Davenport, Iowa. Fun fact, paper boys are still kind of exempt from a lot of child labor laws. They're exempt. That's right. Not newspaper delivery people as they're called now. Right. That's right. Not newspaper delivery people, as they're called now. Right. 305-995-1800. Our conversation will continue. Join it. 305-995-1800.

This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks again for being along with us and supporting public media in your neighborhood. Next week on our program, we're going to talk about another issue impacting children social media, Florida lawmakers may ban Instagram and Tiktok from allowing children under the age of 16 to sign up. Meantime, social media CEOs went before a congressional committee this week to face more tough questions about their businesses and face the families of cyber abuse victims. Does there need to be more regulation of social media? And

if so, what is it and how much? What is your social media diet like? And what do you know about the media diet of your kids or grandkids? Email us now radio at the Florida roundup.org radio at theidaroundup.org. Share your story, and we may include it next week. Now, working as a kid here in Florida, we're talking about child labor laws and the effort to reform those laws with WLRN investigative reporter Danny Rivero. Danny, we've got some phone calls here. Brian has been very patiently listening in. Go ahead, Brian, you're on the radio.

Thank you for taking my call. My concern, and don't get me wrong, I started working as a child at the age of 14, and it was an elective choice because there was a path that I was wanting to go down that was medical-related related and I could get a medical position that would help me advance myself. But when you open up these child labor laws to allow the stressors of parents to make those decisions or guardians or custodians over those parents, you're creating something that could be akin to a labor force designed to replace what might be the labor force that was here from immigrants that were struggling to solve job positions here. And I know we're in a big deficit if we compare ourselves with some other countries that are very competitive. Brian, let me pick up that comment here, Danny, because

we did hear in the debate, some Democrats point to last year's legislation cracking down on undocumented workers in Florida as a potential reason for this kind of legislation to ease the restrictions on the number of hours that 16 and 17 year olds can work. What do we know about that? Right. And, you know, on on that bill that passed last year, you know, there was a lot of talk and we have some anecdotal cases where things suggest that the law relating to people here that are undocumented and their position in the workforce has led to workers leaving the state. That bill was strongly opposed by many sectors of the business community. I mean, but it's also just worth taking into account just where things are nationally and where Florida is.

I mean, right now, nationwide, we're in the longest stretch of unemployment under 4% since the 1960s. In Florida, it's at 3% unemployment. I mean, this is an extremely tight labor market. Wages have been going up all over the place, especially, I'll add, in construction. I mean, I've talked to people in the development community here in South Florida, where I am, and the wages are up about 30% over the last couple of years. I mean, where I am. And it's the wages are up about 30% over the last couple of years. I mean, extraordinary growth, which speaks to, you know, workers actually have some bargaining power at this, but what this bill could be doing, whether it's the actual intention or not, is opening up a new sector of the workforce. And the, the sector of the workforce. And the sector of the workforce that typically has the least bargaining

power and the lowest wages are the brand new entrants into the workforce, right? The very young people. Right. Those with the least amount of experience, if any at all. Let's take one quick call. Harriet has been listening. Harriet, I've got about a minute or so, but we want to hear from you. Go ahead. I'll just say the other people said a lot already. I know a lot of the school teachers in the county where I live, and they don't have true and off to make sure the kids go to school. Parents are driving kids off late for school and up late and not bringing them to school. I graduated with two guys to read. Harriet, we're getting a little interference there something's uh punching the buttons on your phone it's a little hard to hear you but but uh danny the the uh the supporters of this bill were very clear to say this is not

an excuse for 16 and 17 year olds to not go to school, to skip school, to go late or to leave early. Right. I mean, they did say that's not their intention. But, you know, the flip side and from the teen I talked to, the fear from their part is, well, your boss can now ask you to work right. Thirty five hours because they can. I mean, they can't do that under the law now. And some some children and especially in low income households might feel pressure because of real life circumstances, how they perceive their role in the family, what their parents are telling them, Hey, go make more money. I mean, these are real things. Those pressures can't happen now to some extent because it's illegal, but it would be legal. Yeah. These are a big kitchen table issues. Danny Rivero, investigative reporter with

our partner station in Miami, WLRN. Danny, thanks for sharing your reporting with us. Thanks for having me, Tom. The Senate still has to weigh in on this legislation, and we certainly will be watching that. In the meantime, don't forget next week we'll be talking about social media. Share your story, radio at thefloridaroundup.org. thefloridaroundup.org. This year obviously is a big election year. It also marks 50 years since the first and only resignation by an American president. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were the reporters who uncovered Watergate that led to Richard Nixon stepping down. The scandal was

a significant constitutional test involving the White House, Congress, and the courts. A different and in some ways more significant test is presented by a former president facing criminal charges for his alleged actions to overturn the 2020 election and running for that office again. Woodward and Bernstein continue reporting and chronicling American presidents and politics. We spoke with both of them this week. Bob Carl, welcome to our program. It's been 50 years a half century since Watergate. The view has been that Watergate tested the constitutional system here in the United States, but it held.

What is your view, Carl, of how the current system of checks and balances, separation of powers with a former president facing 91 criminal charges is holding? Not well, because we're up against the exception to the rule. We wrote a new introduction to the 50th anniversary edition of All the President's Men, and we begin that introduction by quoting George Washington on the subject of the election of the President of the United States, and that there is a weakness in our system that perhaps is unavoidable, that if a person of a certain character is elected to the presidency or seeking the presidency, that there is a danger that the system will not work and that the system

can be exploited by such a person. In the case of Richard Nixon, the system worked. It worked in large measure because the president's own party, the Republican party, decided that they could not abide a criminal president in the United States. In the case of Donald Trump, we have a Republican party that has decided quite decisively that they are willing to abide a criminal president and former president of the United States. The system might not be able to protect us from such a president or presidential hopeful as the character of Donald Trump. Bob, put that historical analysis into contemporary politics here in 2024, in this election cycle, this very unique, historic, unprecedented election cycle

that Americans find themselves in. A couple of months ago was the 50th anniversary of the Saturday Night Massacre. And so they had a dinner, people who worked for the Watergate prosecutors. And there was one speaker, and it was Stephen Breyer, the former Supreme Court justice, who left the Supreme Court a couple of years ago. It served 28 years on the Supreme Court. He'd been a junior Watergate prosecutor. And he got up, 50 years ago during Watergate, it worked. And then it was just like a thunderclap. He waved his little copy of the Constitution and he said, the question now, this moment is, will it work again? That's the test this country is going through right now. Will it work again? Carl, you've done some reporting about Republicans in the Senate over the past couple of years, particularly toward the end of Donald Trump's term.

A key difference between President Trump and President Nixon was President Nixon lost the support of his own party in the Senate, ultimately leading to his resignation 50 years ago this coming August. The GOP this time around seems to be lining up behind the former president despite 91 criminal charges. What do you credit for Trump's ability to keep his Republican support? I think you have to look at the country. You have to look at this culture, which is a totally different one than existed 50 years ago. To make America a great movement that Trump has created. It is a wide and deep movement. The idea that this is just a bunch of discontented males

swigging beer from a can and uttering a lot of prejudicial thoughts as too much of the opposition would characterize it is nonsense. This is a movement that has captured all kinds of imaginations and views that perhaps have been latent in the culture, but have been laying there. So this is about the country. This is not just about Donald Trump. I named 21 Republican senators by name who held Trump in great disregard, contempt, disdain, thought he's a danger to democracy, and yet have been so craven that they haven't said

it out loud. And I decided, well, it's finally time. I've got the information. I've got it from people who work for these 21 senators. It's detailed. I'm going to put it out there. And of course, there might have been one denial, I think, of the 21. So what does that mean? It means that Trump is held in great fear by the Republicans in the Senate and the House. Compare that to what happened when Barry Goldwater, the 1964 nominee of his party to be president of the United States, who by the end of Nixon's presidency, becomes something of a conscience of his party to be president of the United States, who by the end of Nixon's presidency becomes something of a conscience of his party. We're speaking with Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public

Radio station. Carl, you've gone on to say that we are in a cold civil war in the United States. that we are in a cold civil war in the United States. And you've said that Trump ignited it. What is a cold civil war? What do you mean by that? Well, a cold civil war, I think, began before Trump in our political system and in our culture, over issues that were roiling the people of this country on two different sides of all kinds of questions, having to do with immigration, things we're seeing, having to do particularly with abortion. Look, we're the only country of the Western democracies that has had our politics dominate to a large extent for some 40 years by this issue of abortion. The Catholic countries of Europe dealt with it, moved on. Not us. We're still there. We were in a cold

civil war, a depth of division and opposition and virulence and hate that one might not have expected at this time in our evolution in this country. And Trump has played that cold civil war like a genius general. Carl and Bob, let me ask you one Florida-centric question. You spent a lot of time reporting in Florida for Watergate. You spent some time in Florida writing the book, of course, all the president's men, Florida played a role in Watergate with President Nixon spending time here, a number of the burglars were from the Miami area. Of course, Trump is a Florida resident now. Political operative Roger Stone is a Florida resident played a role both

with President Nixon and President Trump. Is this a consequence of Florida's growing political importance that this state seems to have maybe a bit role with these two stories, or is it something else that's in play? It's a really interesting question. Why has the magnet drawn to Florida? I don't know the answer. Certainly, there is a dynamism about Florida in the last half century America in terms of its growth, in terms of its differences from the rest of the country, in terms of its first Cuban immigrant wave, unlike anywhere else in this country with that first generation of Cuban Americans? I don't know the answer to your question, but I think it's a fascinating one. Indeed, the first day of Watergate, in the courtroom, Bob was in the courtroom listening to those burglars enter their pleas. I was in the office at the started calling their spouses. Within a couple of weeks, I was in Florida trying to find financial instruments that indeed had gone through a bank. The reality is that Florida reflects the country in a almost perfect way.

And to be quite honest, when I get a phone call or an email from somebody from Florida, it immediately grabs my attention more than a effort to contact me from somebody in another state. to contact me from somebody in another state. We always learn something about the country from Florida. Bob and Carl, thank you for spending time with us here on the Florida Roundup, and thanks for more than a half century of just terrific stellar journalism. Thank you. Thanks.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The two will be here in Florida next week. They will be having two events called Watergate to Today, Journalism, Accountability, and the Current Challenges to American Democracy. They'll be at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton on Thursday and in Jupiter on Friday. More to come here with a look at homelessness in Florida. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station. This is the Florida Roundup. I'm Tom Hudson. Thanks for being along with us this week. A few stories now about addressing homelessness here in Florida. Outreach workers and volunteers spent some of

January in parking lots, on streets, and other places counting and speaking with people living without homes. These point-in-time counts happen across the country. Reporter Eileen Kelly from WGCU in Fort Myers reports. We're going to head towards the back of the parking lot and then see what we start to pick up, okay? I'm with Ashiba Brown. She's an outreach worker who specializes in helping those suffering mental illness and addictions. We begin our journey walking through a Walmart parking lot in Cape Coral, where many unhoused try and blend in with shoppers. So we're going to be looking for vehicles that have lots of bags piling up, dashboards might look extra crowded,

individuals with the car door open might have a chair sitting out. Whether it's this big box store or one of the prolific strip malls in southwest Florida, those living in their cars tend to park around the lot's edges. The lucky, if there is such a thing for the unhoused, find a spot under a shady tree. So it's all about looking for areas. Like this bush area, you know, you just put your little tent there it's your home. We've been walking through a parking lot for maybe 15 minutes when we see a car with the telltale signs. The dashboard is spilling over with things. Filled bags

rise from the floorboard to the roof of the car. Brown approaches. The driver's side window is down. A man is eating his lunch. How are you today? We're doing the point-in-time count for the homeless nationwide today. Can we count you today? The man looks to be in his 60s. He's clean-cut and admits he's living in his car, though he doesn't want to be counted. He's getting by, he says, with money from his savings account. There's a woman escaping the midday sun under a tree. She's standing still, staring out to nowhere in particular. She looks exhausted. Her name is Cristara. She begins to cry when asked how she's doing.

Cristara is in her mid-30s. She says she's been without a home for the past one and a half years. Her four children have been taken from her, just like she was taken from her mom when she was just a little girl. Christara grew up in foster care. She worries her children will never connect with her, just like she never got to connect with her mother again. Brown encourages her not to give up. We all fall down, but we got to get back up. Let me just count you, okay? Not a problem. It's okay. Kristara agrees. Her voice will be heard. Her circumstances analyzed.

Does that include today? How many times have you experienced homelessness in the last three years? The point in time count is meant to provide a snapshot of what the homeless situation is like at any time throughout the year. But the numbers are far from reality, representing maybe just a third of the actual number of people unhoused on the streets each night. The results of the survey will likely be released in March. Michael Overway, who leads both the Lee and Collier County Homeless Coalitions, anticipates both counties' numbers will increase this year. Both counties' numbers will increase this year. Last year, each rose greatly, Collier by 50% and Lee by 46%. There's even more bad news. The new, much older face of the unhoused.

I think the newly homeless or first-time homeless are going to be the larger numbers in our counts again as they were last year. These new faces of homeless could represent some 75 to 80% of all the unhoused in Lee and Collier counties. When the counts are completed, outreach workers predict. Reporting from Cape Coral, I'm Eileen Kelly with Andrew Melendez. A bill that would prohibit encampments of people experiencing homelessness is making its way through the Florida Senate. This is cutting edge. Republican Jonathan Martin from Lee County is the bill's sponsor. We're doing something new here in Florida to prevent what we see happening in other parts of the country.

The legislation bans local governments from allowing anyone to sleep or camp on public property without a permit, but it does not require cities or counties to issue those permits. Broward County Democratic Senator Rosalyn Osgood voted against the effort in committee this week. It can't be our reaction. We're going to just put laws in place and they're going to go away. They're not going to go away until we deal with the root cause. And a lot of it starts with us humanizing people. The bill ultimately passed out of its first Senate committee. A House version also passed through one committee. The need for housing assistance is on the rise, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. High rent, low wages, and strong demand for public

funding means some wait years for help. Lilian Hernandez-Carabajo reports from our partner station, WMFE. It's dinner time, and Carolyn Karsk's two oldest sons, 16 and 17, help serve their three younger siblings, 4, 6, and 9. Come on. What is she worrying about? It's a tight squeeze in this extended-stay hotel room in Melbourne. With only two beds and a sleeper sofa, it's organized chaos for the family of six. Still, Karsk says it's a step

up from sleeping in their 2004 Chevy Tahoe. This is the first time I've ever been homeless, and I could do this by myself. I wouldn't care. But I don't want my kids to wake up in a truck, go to sleep in a truck, or like, I don't want my kids bullied about looking homeless being homeless. Karsk says she sometimes worked up to three jobs at a time but after problems with her landlord she and her family were evicted in June. That's when community organizer Anna Dahl stepped in. With help from donors Dahl has been able to keep the family from sleeping in their truck but funds are running out and many shelters won't allow Karsk's two teenage boys to stay. This week will be week four in the hotel.

We've contacted different organizations for help. Carolyn has applied for housing, and we're just hoping and waiting for something to open. Karsk represents a vulnerable demographic of people with extremely low income who use HUD's Section 8 vouchers to afford housing. But for most of 2023, every housing authority agency in Central Florida was at capacity and not accepting applications. Vivian Bryant is the director of the Orlando Housing Authority. The Section 8 waiting list, we have people who have been on there for 15 years. Government vouchers can partially

or fully pay for someone's rent and utilities, but it is up to the applicant to find a landlord willing to take vouchers as payment. And once a voucher is given out to someone, that voucher is lost for the year, even if that person works themselves out of the system. Back in Melbourne, Kars got lucky. With Dahl's help, she got an emergency voucher and then hustled to find a landlord. In Orlando, I'm Lilian Hernandez Caravaggio. And I'm Tom Hudson. You're listening to the Florida Roundup from your Florida Public Radio station.

Florida, here come the Valkyries. That's the new professional women's pro volleyball federation team calling Orlando home. Joe Burns reports now from partner station WMFE. Joe Burns reports now from partner station WMFE. A boisterous crowd of nearly 5,300 newly minted fans cheered the Valkyries in their first match, a competitive battle against the Atlanta Vibe. Young families were there, and a lot of girls from Central Florida club teams were holding signs and following the long rallies with close attention. A hype squad drove fans to a frenzy with t-shirts

and miniature volleyball. The match itself was thrilling enough as it seesawed back and forth. That's until the Valkyries fell by three points in the fifth set. And so it begins. The brand-new Pro Volleyball Federation has seven teams with plans for three more. They're a mix of veteran players with international experience and newly drafted college stars. The PVF comes along as women's volleyball rides a wave of popularity. The American women won gold in the last summer Olympics, and in August, an outdoor volleyball match at Nebraska set a record for attendance with 92,000. Women's professional volleyball leagues have come and gone since at least the 1980s, and there are two

others getting started in the U.S. Here's Valkyrie's head coach Amy Pauley. Our assistant coach Molly Stark reminds me every day that this is not the first real pro volleyball league, but it is the most professional volleyball league. I think the difference is now just the fan base has grown so much, the popularity in the sport at the younger age. This league was two years in the making, but the Valkyries had been together training for just a few weeks. Until now, top college players like Valkyries starting middle blocker Kaz Brown had to go overseas if they wanted to compete as a professional. I played in Germany, Ukraine, France and Greece. All of those countries and leagues extremely different in their own right. But I took a lot from those experiences.

I'm not going to lie, it was really hard. With a new league, newly drafted rookies can pursue a career at home. For the kids that are coming out of college now to have choices and to have opportunity, I mean, I think it's amazing. Before the match, 60-year-old Tanya Williams of Marion County said she was excited to watch the Valkyries. Williams used to play volleyball in college, and she's glad for, quote, the younger generation. There's a lot of interest in volleyball. It hasn't gotten its due diligence as of yet, but I'm positive that it will be as we continue to build up this type of program across the nation. Another fan, sixth grader Lizzie Ryan,

was outside the arena with six schoolmates and several parents from Annunciation Catholic Academy. It's just a really big inspiration for, I think, every single girl who wants to be a volleyball player. In Orlando, I'm Joe Burns. And finally on the Roundup, from volleyball to play ball. They dared to dream of playing baseball. They had no idea that they were making history.

They didn't care about making history. They just wanted to play ball. Tonight, Friday night, on most PBS stations in Florida, a new documentary will premiere. Never Drop the Ball tells the story of how black baseball players built a brand of baseball out of segregation into a worldwide pastime. The game was more up-tempo. Teams would not hesitate to steal a base, might have a double steal, or suicide squeeze play at home plate. The game was just more exciting and more dynamic to watch.

The film chronicles the legacy of black baseball, including teams in Florida. Michael Anderson is one of the filmmakers. There's different areas of our community, be it the history of the Miami Giants, but also the history of baseball in Palm Beach. Baseball was all up and down Florida, all up and down the coast. So really telling these stories of these barnstorming teams, the Sarasota Seagulls, different teams. In Tampa, over in Tampa, it was a lot of, let's say, Negro baseball.

Shin guards for catchers, helmets for batters, lights for baseball at night. These were innovations from Negro League Baseball. You can watch Never Drop the Ball tonight, Friday night, on most local Florida PBS stations at nine o'clock. That is the Florida Roundup this week. It is produced by WLRN Public Media in Miami and WUSF Public Media in Tampa. The program is produced by Bridget O'Brien and Grayson Docter. WLRN's Vice President of Radio and the program's Technical Director is

Peter Meritz. Engineering help from Doug Peterson, Charles Michaels, and Jackson Hart. Amy Sanchez answered our phones. Our theme music is provided by Miami jazz guitarist Aaron Leibos at aaronleibos.com. Thanks for calling, emailing, listening, and supporting Public Radio. I'm Tom Hudson. Have a terrific weekend.