Atlanta jail diversion program may resume services after contract fight with city
Atlanta City Hall, in Atlanta, Georgia on Nov. 23 2013. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - An Atlanta nonprofit dedicated to helping residents experiencing crises avoid jail time may resume services after a fight with the city over its contract.
For years, Atlanta's Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative has been offering alternative services, instead of criminal charges, to citizens in need.
Sworn APD officers can call in the PAD team members to deal with mental illness, give out food and water, or talk to people, getting a sense of what they really need.
"If the police feel that a person can benefit from services other than going to jail, they contact us," PAD member Carlisle Newman explained to FOX 5's Aungelique Proctor in 2024.
The program has worked so well that members of the city council and community leaders were asking to expand it beyond its schedule of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
However, in an Instagram graphic posted on Thursday, PAD Atlanta said it suspended services to the Atlanta Police Department and ATL311 after the end of its month-to-month contract.
"The new contract was authorized by City Council on November 18," the organization wrote. "Once the new contract is executed, we look forward to resuming our services to ATL311 and APD to meet community needs and divert vulnerable community members from incarceration."
City officials responded that the previous agreement with PAD "lacked the necessary performance metrics that would ensure taxpayers were getting the services for which they paid" and offered to extend the previous month-to-month agreement, which "PAD refused."
Following the back-and-forth, PAD wrote in a comment on the Instagram post that the city sent the contract package to be signed.
"We hope for a swift execution so that we can resume services," the organization wrote.
While the agreement is being processed, the city will offer diversion services through its HOPE (Homeless Outreach Prevention and Engagement) team.
The Source: Information for this story came from statements by the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative and the City of Atlanta as well as previous FOX 5 reporting.