Atlanta introduces first-of-its-kind diversion center to help people in crisis avoid jail time
On Friday, March 31, 2023, Fulton County officials held a groundbreaking ceremony for a center that will serve as Atlanta’s first, all-hours alternative to jail.
The Center for Diversion and Services will provide a person-centered approach for people experiencing homelessness, mental health, substance abuse and poverty. It will be operated and staffed by the Grady Health System.
The facility comes as Fulton County officials are planning for a new jail almost four times the size of the overcrowded facility on Rice Street estimated to cost $2 billion, rising crime rates and a backlog of unresolved court cases caused by delays during the pandemic.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said it will be a “game-changer” for public safety in the community.
“This facility will be a safe and welcoming place with a sobering center where the person’s immediate needs, such as food, a shower, clothing, can be connected to their long-term care,” Dickens said.
In a statement, the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative, or PAD, said this will be the first time there’s a sobering center in Atlanta since before the 1996 Olympics.
The organization launched its own pre-arrest diversion mobile response in 2017. The following year, the Fulton County Justice and Mental Health Taskforce recommended a physical location.
Since then, the City of Atlanta, Fulton County and community partners have worked together to bring the center to fruition.
PAD will continue providing pre-arrest diversion services to local law enforcement agencies before the center opens in 2024.
Lashundra Mitchell has been a PAD participant for about two years. She said she knows first-hand how diversion rather than being arrested and jailed can make a difference in people’s lives.
“I think [the diversion center] is awesome,” Mitchell said. “I think that we really do need something like this. I was recently homeless, and PAD helped me. I have my own place now.”
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said that in 2021, the police department responded to over 9,000 calls of a person in a mental health crisis.
“That is not the role of the courts,” Schierbaum said. “And when you look at the limited resources that an Atlanta police officer carries, you see our frustration.”
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert C. McBurney said the diversion center represents a new approach to dealing with people who become involved in the criminal justice system but are not themselves criminals.
“In a few months, … we are going to open this diversion center and create opportunities that we haven’t had before so that there are options for people who are experiencing a state of being unhoused, who are working through a serious mental illness or who are suffering from an addiction an option other than going to our jail and dealing with me,” McBurney said.
“I am not the counselor that these folks need to see three months after they’ve been arrested for their initial appearance in court,” he continued. “I can be nice, but I’m not equipped with the tools that we’ll have in the diversion center – peer-led, where people are having interactions with folks who’ve lived the experiences they’ve been through. We expect good outcomes.”
The diversion center will replace the existing Atlanta Department of Corrections building at 254 Peachtree St. SW after it is demolished in four to five months.
McBurney said it currently houses county inmates, including about 300 females and 60 males. The diversion center will also provide legal support and case management.
Separately, a Behavioral Health Crisis Center is slated to open next year on Metropolitan Avenue. It will work in parallel with the diversion center.
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