History
The PAD Initiative was born out of the work and vision of Atlantans directly impacted by policing and incarceration and committed to a new approach to community safety and wellness.
2013
Under the leadership of queer and trans people of color, Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative (SNaPCO) was formed and lead a grassroots organizing campaign to defeat a banishment ordinance targeting sex workers in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood. SNaPCO’s founding organizations, including Racial Justice Action Center, Women on the Rise, LaGender, and Trans(forming), rallied a broad coalition of Atlantans to champion criminal justice reform and propose more effective approaches to public safety.
2015
Community leaders, legal system partners, and elected officials traveled to Seattle to learn about Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) and Atlanta City Council and Fulton County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to establish the PAD Design Team.
2016
The PAD Design Team, which included representatives from local criminal justice agencies, local governments, neighborhood and faith leaders, and social services providers, launched an 18-month process to design the local pilot of a diversion and care navigation strategy, based on the LEAD model.
2017
PAD began accepting diversions in October 2017 in four Atlanta Police Department beats. In 2018, the Atlanta Police Department diverted 69 people, and by 2019 expanded to 28 beats.
2019
PAD was awarded the Civic Impact Award for Government Innovation by the Center for Civic Innovation. PAD successfully completed the two-year pilot, diverting 150 people and providing harm reduction based case management, housing, transportation, food assistance, and linkage to care that supported improvements in participant and community quality of life.
2020
The LEAD Bureau selected PAD to serve as one of seven sites nationally for the LEAD Proof of Concept Cohort, as a model site for Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion.
Atlanta City Council unanimously approved a substantial funding increase to expand PAD citywide.
PAD lead a design process for the expansion into Community Response Services with ATL311. We studied 3.5 years of 911 call data, co-hosted 3 virtual listening sessions with 15 other organizations, surveyed City of Atlanta residents, and convened six stakeholder working groups.
PAD changed our name to the Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative. New name, still PAD.
2021
In partnership with the City of Atlanta’s non-emergency 311 city services line, PAD launches Community Response Services for quality of life concerns related to mental health, substance use, or extreme poverty. By summer 2021, Community Response Services expand to be citywide.
Pre-Arrest Diversion Services also expand to include MARTA police officers and APD officers across Atlanta.
Staff
Leadership:
Moki Macias, Executive Director
Denise White, Deputy Director
Farah Witt, Director of Finance
Toni Jackson, Director of Community Response
Letisha Hemanes McCall, Director of Social Services
Tamia Dame, Director of Communications
Community Response Team:
Annette Johnson, Community Response Supervisor
Ash DeSilva, Community Response Supervisor
Referral Coordinators:
Devon Claridge
Takira Williams
Community Responders:
Christian Kelly
Michael White
Kasali Obanoyen
Rachiim McFarlane
Ericka Black
Lola Andrews
Robert Douglas
Community Engagement Team:
Kayla Smith, Community Engagement & Training Manager
Raychell Green, Training Coordinator
A’Shiah Rachel, Community Engagement Specialist
Care Navigation Team:
Angera Hardge, Care Navigation Supervisor
Terry Thompson, Care Navigation Supervisor
Erice Monteiro, Legal Navigation Manager
Will Baskin, Living Room Peer Advocate
Care Navigators:
Ashlee Heibel
Cameron Johnson
Darci Jaret
Diamante Hayes
D’Neise Robinson
Drew Umberger
Elisha Montoya
Gene Walls
Marquasha Zanders
Reese Ward
Tinola Payne
Traci Crawford
Victoria Hull
Street Wellness Enhancement & Engagement Team (SWEET)
Lori Rush, SWEET Supervisor
Emma Weinstein-Levey, SWEET Clinical Advocate
Gar Hogan, SWEET Peer Advocate
Jamal Smith, SWEET Peer Advocate
Kareem Osborne, SWEET Clinical Advocate
LaShonda McDowell, SWEET Clinical Advocate
Mark “Bean” Peters, SWEET Peer Advocate
Operations Team:
Jasmine Moore, Site Operations Manager
Stacy Piper, Operations Coordinator
Board of Directors
Chris Johnson
Clinton Deveaux, Chair
Iffat Muhammad Walker, Treasurer
James Alexander
Marilynn Winn
Salisha A. Evans
Sara Toering
Staci Fox
Vanessa Hickey-Gales
Members of Solutions not Punishment Collaborative at City Hall, 2015
“PAD gives me the opportunity to advocate for more humane responses.“
"During 30 years on the Municipal Court, it became clear to me that many defendants were brought before me because of their poverty, their homelessness, their mental health status or their addiction. Their arrests were less about crime than about their circumstances. These are issues that belong in the health and social justice systems of our communities rather than the criminal justice system. PAD gives me the opportunity to advocate for more humane responses to these concerns."
-Hon. Clinton Deveaux (Ret.), Board Chair
Supporters
PAD is supported by the generosity of individual donors, and the following funders:
City of Atlanta
Fulton County
Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities
Financials
PAD is committed to maintaining transparency in all aspects of our work, including how we manage our financial resources. Below are PAD’s IRS Form 990 filings, which are publicly available documents submitted to the Internal Revenue Service each year.
These forms provide detailed information about PAD’s financial activities. In addition to our 990 forms, PAD’s audit reports are also available, offering a comprehensive overview of our financial stewardship.
Legal Name: Atlanta Fulton County Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative Inc.
Doing Business As: Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative Inc.
EIN: 81-5124367
Chief Executive Officer: Moki Macias
990 Forms:
Audit Reports:
If you have any questions about PAD’s financial activities, please email us at Info@atlantapad.org.