Atlanta jail diversion program faces uncertain future
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Atlanta leaders want to hire a new organization for providing jail diversion services, but some community leaders are taking issue with their search.
Why it matters: Connecting people struggling with housing or substance abuse to resources instead of incarceration could ease overcrowding in jails and break the cycle of crime.
Driving the news: The city of Atlanta is launching a special procurement process seeking bidders to offer services the city currently receives from the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative, or PAD Atlanta.
How it works: Atlanta police who have cause to arrest someone they believe is in need of substance abuse treatment, housing and other mental health services can call PAD.
- Atlanta residents can also request PAD services by calling 311, the city's one-stop-shop for information about government services.
- If the person agrees to work with PAD, they are not taken to jail and are instead connected to community resources.
- PAD has contracted with the city to provide its services since 2017.
By the numbers: Between January and September of this year, PAD received 1,462 community referrals through ATL311 and recorded 233 diversions (including 110 made pre-arrest), according to its website.
- Last month, Atlanta, Fulton County and the Georgia Justice Project partnered with PAD to open a new Diversion and Services Center inside an unused portion of the city's Downtown jail.
Catch up quick: PAD executive director Moki Macias said that earlier this year, the city told the organization it wanted to do a competitive bidding process for diversion services.
- PAD went through that process and was told it was the most qualified bidder, so they began work on drafting a contract.
- Once the contract was before City Council, some elected officials raised questions about how PAD operates, Macias said.
What they're saying: Macias said legislation authorizing funding for the new, two-year contract has been held in the council's Finance Executive Committee, but the council has authorized funding for PAD on a month-to-month basis through December.
- Macias told Axios that Mayor Andre Dickens' administration said there were "philosophical considerations as to how these services were defined, and how the city contracts for these services."
- She said PAD has had a conversation with the administration but has not received any more insight on those considerations.
- "The idea that another agency could be selected through a rushed and secret process to provide services misses the true value, which is … a true community resource," she said.
The other side: A spokesperson for the city said it would not comment on the active bidding process.
- City Council members and Mayor Andre Dickens' administration have each year invested more than $4.4 million in PAD "for this vital service and want our residents and, most importantly, the individuals served by these funds to get the services they deserve," the spokesperson said.
The intrigue: The Southern Center for Human Rights has criticized the special procurement process, saying the scope of what the city is looking for is very similar to what PAD's contract spells out.
- Tiffany Roberts, the organization's director of public policy, said the similar language "should strongly signal to City Council that they must approve PAD's contract and reject any pressure to succumb to a culture of corruption that only harms the people of Atlanta."
What's next: The council's Finance Executive Committee could vote on the new contract as early as Wednesday during its meeting at 1:30pm. It would go to the full City Council for consideration on Monday.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from a city spokesperson, as well as to note that residents can request PAD services by calling 311.