Moki Macias, PAD’s executive director says the system is failing communities nationwide. “It’s actually just moving some of our most vulnerable people into some of our most dangerous public facilities, which are local jails,” she said.

In an emergency situation, it may feel like calling 911 is your only option. However, decades of mistreatment by law enforcement have left many in Black communities feeling like they have no one to call in a crisis.

Construction is officially underway in downtown Atlanta for a new 24/7 resource center to address homelessness, mental health challenges, substance abuse, and poverty.

Atlanta city officials recently broke ground on The Center for Diversion and Services. It will serve as an alternative resource for people who would usually be sent to jails and emergency rooms.

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

Written by Moki Macias, PAD’s Executive Director

If we are truly going to move away from a punitive framework, then we must go beyond investing in Community First Response — we need to also invest in community resources. By developing and increasing public accommodations, like bathrooms and showers, recovery communities that connect people to peer support and safe, accessible housing options, we reduce the need for any intervention altogether.

Grady Memorial Hospital and the Policing Alternatives and Diversion (PAD) Program have agreed to help staff the facility. With their assistance, the initiative is expected to divert 41 people daily from the local jails, detention facilities and emergency rooms, according to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners.

With the hope that the center could potentially alleviate hospital emergency rooms, initial plans outlined the initiative would be staffed by Grady Memorial Hospital and the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Program. The initiative is expected to divert 41 people daily from the local jails, detention facilities and emergency rooms.

Director of Community Response Services of Atlanta Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative Chyna Quarker on PAD being awarded funding from the NFL as part of the Inspire Change Initiative.

As part of Inspire Change the league has also awarded funding to five new national grant partners: Atlanta Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative (PAD), Chicago's Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE), CHOOSE 180, Gulf Coast JFCS Community Assistance and Life Liaison Program (CALL), and Peace for DC.

Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Cahoots/White Bird Clinic, Community Based Public Safety Collective, Cure Violence Global, Equal Justice USA , Common Justice, and Impact Justice.

Without an ID, experts say a person can’t get out of homelessness. “You need it for any housing,” said Leni Garner, who works for the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative or PAD as a care navigator. It’s not just housing -- IDs are needed to get a job, a bank account, a car, and the like.

Moki Macias, the executive director of Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD), discusses the findings of the Justice Policy Board’s analysis of Fulton County’s jail population that calls for more diversion work to reduce overcrowding.

The partnership between the 911 and 311 call centers are focusing on public indecency calls right now. These are the first types of calls Atlanta 911 operators will immediately send to 311.

From there, supportive services will obtain additional information about the situation and submit a PAD community response referral.

ARPA funding has helped cities and states to either implement or expand their own alternative crisis response systems that best serve the needs of their communities. This year, Atlanta’s City Council allocated $4.5 million in ARPA funding to expand their partnership with PAD, a local nonprofit organization that provides community responder and prearrest diversion services for individuals experiencing issues around mental health, substance use, and homelessness.