Atlanta's diversion center promises to help and not punish people in crisis. Here's how it will work
Police across Fulton County have a new place to drop off individuals with mental health issues suspected of nonviolent and minor offenses instead of arresting and taking them to jail or a hospital emergency room.
Officials with the City of Atlanta and Fulton County opened the Center for Diversion and Services at a ceremony on Monday. Both will share the cost of the facility, which operates out of the city’s downtown detention center.
Fulton County Vice Chair Khadijah Abdur-Rahman said the all-hours facility — designed for people experiencing challenges with mental health, substance use and poverty — will be a game-changer for the community.
“It is a promise,” she said, “to respond to those in crisis with understanding and solutions and not punishment.”
The center is estimated to divert over 10,000 people from the Fulton County Jail annually. It comes two months after the Fulton County Behavioral Health Crisis Center also began serving clients nearby.
Inside the building, the walls are painted a bright blue, green and pink. There are also paintings and drawings by several local artists, like Kenny Allen, whose work is driven by lived experience.
Allen’s piece, titled “Environmental Product,” is a self-portrait with a cityscape coming through.
“My art allows you to go to another place than where you are, and I think that’s very important, especially for many of us dealing with mental health troubles and who want to escape life for a moment,” Allen said. “Art is a way for us to do that.”
Karen Sutton, who will run the Center for Diversion and Services on behalf of Grady Health System, said that’s what sets the facility apart, adding that every feature was chosen to show “guests” how much they really care about their wellbeing.
During a tour of the facility, Sutton explained how there are 16 temporary beds, where people can sober up. There is also a living room, kitchen, counseling space, lockers, laundry room and showers.
“We understand that’s a tremendous relief,” Sutton said. “I know at Grady on Tuesdays and Thursdays we have a shower truck. It starts at 6 a.m., but honestly, by 3 o’clock, we have people lined up, because we have a lot of unhoused people who are employed and need that shower, need that opportunity. So, we’re very excited to offer all those services here in one place.”
According to Sutton, law enforcement will not go beyond the receiving area when they drop someone off at the center.
“We have been very intentional about making sure this is a comfortable space and we understand sometimes the dynamics of uniforms and the threat and fear and all of the things that people have dealt with,” Sutton said.
Law enforcement will be required to give their first and last name, unique ID number and zone. They will also enter guests’ first and last name, date of birth and offense that they are being diverted from.
“After that, law enforcement is free to return to service,” Sutton said. “They are not required to hang around. We are a well-trained team. We’ll be able to take over.”
The Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative, or PAD, and Georgia Justice Project will be available to connect individuals to long-term services, like case management and warrant resolution.
Sutton said there’s no limit on the number of times people can come to the facility.
“The best way I can explain it is,” Sutton said, “just like there’s no limitation on arrests, there’s no limitation on engagement at the Center for Diversion and Services.”
As for Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, who is used to seeing people get caught in a vicious cycle of arrest, the center is long overdue.
“We have for too long said, ‘That’s a trespasser. That’s a drunk. That’s a homeless guy. It’s a problem, it’s an arrest, it’s a case, it’s an indictment, it’s a defendant for the public defender’s office,'” McBurney said. “Well, wait. That’s a person. That’s a person with a story. It’s a person with some problems, but that person isn’t the problem. That is a neighbor. That’s a community member.”
Grady Health System President and CEO John Haupert said about 14% of individuals in the emergency psychiatric unit are also brought in by police, demonstrating how these are “health care issues, not criminal issues.” Haupert said the center has the potential to free up 130 psychiatric emergency room beds at the hospital a month.
“The Center for Diversion and Services will be a major step toward addressing our community’s unmet mental health needs, improving the quality of life for individuals who have come through these doors and connecting them to the resources they need to meet their highest potential for health,” Haupert said.
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