Atlanta, GA

Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative — Atlanta, GA

Updated December 12, 2024

The Atlanta-based Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative (PAD) addresses community concerns related to unmet mental health needs, substance use, or extreme poverty. PAD accepts referrals through the City of Atlanta’s non-emergency 311 line, as well as prearrest diversions from law enforcement when they have detained someone for a violation related to the same underlying concerns. For both diversions and community referrals, a PAD community response team conducts outreach and works with the individual to assess their immediate needs and provide ongoing support. This can include a warm meal, transportation to emergency shelters, help navigating care options, distribution of Fentanyl test strips or Narcan, or referrals to other service providers.

The following information outlines PAD’s efforts since it began; it follows the sections of the toolkit. Readers can connect to other parts of the toolkit by clicking the headers for more details.

 

Photo credit: Dustin Chambers

 

Community Engagement and Collaboration

• Prior to the launch of what was formerly known as the Harm Reduction Department but is now called Atlanta’s Community Response Services, PAD led a community engagement process in the summer and fall of 2020. This was intended to help leaders think through design and implementation plans for the community responder program. During this process, they:
  • Conducted 3 listening sessions, where community members shared their personal experiences, perspectives on how Atlanta could benefit from the program, and how PAD services could be expanded;
  • Convened 6 stakeholder working groups with a total of 40 participants to discuss challenges and opportunities; and
  • Surveyed 597 Atlanta residents between September and October 2020.
• Between January and March 2021, PAD staff members gave presentations at 41 community meetings to educate residents on how to use PAD 311 Community Response Services.
• From May to July 2021, PAD staff conducted another public survey to further examine the current needs of the public, their experiences with the program, and to increase program awareness.
• For more information on PAD’s community engagement efforts, watch the “Community Engagement: Planning and Ongoing Support for Community Responder Programs” webinar, hosted by the CSG Justice Center and featuring PAD’s executive director, Moki Macias. PAD’s reports are also available at Community Survey Report and Community Listening Sessions Report.

Needs Assessment

• As part of the community input process to help develop PAD 311 Community Response Services, administrators hired Applied Research Services, Inc. in October 2020 to evaluate 911 calls for service data. This evaluation was intended to identify, analyze, and understand the types of calls that could be successfully diverted from 911 to non-law enforcement community care providers.
  • The team identified “calls of focus” to describe the type of calls that would be suitable for diversion from 911. The initial analysis identified 600,000, or approximately 18 percent, of all incoming 911 calls as suitable for diversion. Read the call study here.
• PAD also conducts personal needs assessments for all referred individuals, connecting each person to the support they uniquely need. People with more extensive needs are enrolled as participants in PAD’s Care Navigation services, which involves weekly check-ins and ongoing case management. For these individuals, PAD provides direct support, including emergency shelter and basic needs assistance.

Call Triaging

• PAD responds to a variety of call types including those related to basic needs assistance, mental health concerns, public disturbances, welfare or wellness checks, public health issues, public indecency, and substance use.
• PAD accepts community referrals through 311, the city’s non-emergency services line, and when calls are deemed as urgent, the community response team addresses them within 30 minutes. Calls determined to be less urgent are responded to within 72 hours.
• In August 2023, PAD implemented its 911 call deflection initiative, which allows non-emergency 911 calls related to public indecency, criminal trespassing, panhandling, and public intoxication to be deflected to ATL311 for a community response.  
  • From August 2023 to September 2024, 242 of these 911 calls were deflected to ATL311, with PAD responders successfully making contact with 89 people and enrolling 4 people into the PAD Care Navigation.
• For additional information on PAD’s call triage process, watch a recording of the Taking the Call Conference session, “Identifying and Triaging Calls: 911, 311, 988, and Beyond.” This session was part of a national conference exploring innovative community responder models.

Program Staffing

• Two-person community response teams provide immediate, consent-based outreach to people on issues such as poverty, public indecency, mental health and substance use needs, basic needs, welfare, and public health issues.
• Team members have at least two years of experience providing case management, outreach, or community-based mental health services to people experiencing homelessness or engaged in survival activities.
• The team meets with the individual in need, discusses their concerns, and then provides ongoing support to address those issues. People with open legal cases or connection to the criminal justice system who need ongoing support are paired with a PAD Care Navigator.
  • This navigator works with the individual to identify goals, initiate case management, provide direct services (including emergency housing support as well as food and transportation assistance), and establish connections with social services and other community supports.
• The community response teams operate Monday through Friday, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  
• There are currently five 2-person teams, with a goal of a sixth one to begin in 2025.

Use of Data to Inform Decision-Making

• PAD collects a wide variety of data on program functions, including:
  • Calls by area of the city,
  • Calls/requests for assistance received,
  • People who are successfully contacted by PAD responders,
  • People who received telephone assistance,
  • People whose needs are successfully met, and
  • Referrals provided to other community services and organizations.
• PAD also regularly reviews 911 call data to analyze what other types of 911 calls can be deflected. 
• PAD continues to collect information on community engagement with the program, including by:
  • Collecting information on individuals’ satisfaction with provided outcomes,
  • Conducting surveys to measure level of community engagement since the launch of Community Response Services, and 
  • Routinely measuring resident knowledge of the program and the services it provides.
• PAD’s 311 referral and outcome data show increased usage of the program and its services: 
  • In 2021, PAD received 940 referrals through Atlanta’s 311 line and successfully contacted 399 people in the community. Of those calls, 210 people were enrolled into PAD’s Care Navigation program. 
  • In 2022, PAD received 1,321 referrals through Atlanta’s 311 line and successfully contacted 592 people in the community. Of those calls, 382 people were enrolled into PAD’s Care Navigation program. 
  • In 2023, PAD received 1,498 referrals through Atlanta’s 311 line and successfully contacted 725 people. Of those calls, 279 people were enrolled into PAD’s Care Navigation program. 
  • Between January and October of 2024, PAD received 1498 referrals through Atlanta’s 311 line and successfully contacted 413 people. Of those calls, 164 people have been enrolled into the Care Navigation program so far.

Safety and Wellness

• PAD’s community response teams never transport or engage with a person who does not agree to interacting with them. Teams are not responsible for enforcing the law and do not detain any individual or otherwise attempt to compel them to take specific actions. Instead, PAD’s community response teams attempt to build rapport with each person and identify immediate needs to support them in reducing harm to themselves and others.
• PAD’s approach to safety and wellness is also reflected in the work of its care navigators, who address quality-of-life concerns in a way that honors the dignity and self-determination of each participant. Care navigators offer many types of support, including with:
  • Accessing medical, dental, and mental health care;
  • Applying for benefits and employment;
  • Identifying and securing housing;
  • Navigating the court system for previous cases or civil legal issues;
  • Reconnecting with family members or community supports; and
  • Securing documentation and identification.
• Read more about PAD’s harm reduction approach and how it supports wellness for responders and residents here.

Financial Sustainability

• PAD’s FY2024 budget was $5.5 million, with 35 percent stemming from private funding and 65 percent from public. In FY2025, they expect 77 percent of funding to come from public sources.
• PAD is working to enhance ways to collaborate with the City of Atlanta and Fulton County to increase public investments in community responder programs and other community-based services.