Cities Nationwide Embrace Diversion Initiatives That Focus on Connecting People with Housing and Services, Proving Compassion Is More Effective than Criminalization
Lilly Gaskin experienced homelessness for nearly a decade in Atlanta, often finding herself without identification and other important personal documents. This made it very difficult for Gaskin and her two children to enter local housing programs despite their multiple attempts.
That was until the city of Atlanta launched its Policing Alternatives and Diversion (PAD) Initiative in 2021. The program is designed to connect people experiencing homelessness with services and support instead of allowing them to be arrested for minor crimes tied to homelessness, like trespassing.
PAD gave Gaskin a new lease on life. She connected with a care navigator who helped Gaskin enter Atlanta’s coordinated entry system. Gaskin was then placed in a rapid rehousing program before moving into her own apartment.
Now, Gaskin is one of more than 2,000 people experiencing homelessness that have left the streets behind because of Atlanta’s diversion program.
“People get into the situation of homelessness for all kinds of reasons. It’s not because they’re on drugs or they’re too lazy to work,” Gaskin said about her journey. “People can get sick and can’t work, or their paperwork can get lost in a fire. There’s a lot of things that can happen that can qualify people to be considered homeless.”
Gaskin’s journey back to housing is illustrative of how diversion programs can help people exit homelessness quickly and more sustainably than traditional policing efforts.
Cities Turn to Diversion Programs Amid Growing Homelessness
Several cities increased their criminalization efforts after the Supreme Court ruled in June that cities can use punitive fines and arrests to punish people experiencing homelessness when no shelter is available. However, other cities from Atlanta to San Diego and Dallas have decided to take a much different approach by starting diversion programs that help unhoused people connect with services and available shelter.
These efforts are happening at a time when unsheltered homelessness increased by roughly 9.7%, accounting for more than 20,000 people, between 2022 and 2023, according to federal data.
“Some of what people may be getting caught up in is directly related to the strategies that they are using to survive homelessness,” Moki Macias, the executive director of Atlanta’s PAD program, said in a press release.
Diversion programs typically work like this. An individual in crisis is contacted by the police for quality-of-life infractions like sleeping outside or sharing food on public property. Instead of arresting the individual, the police officer contacts a diversion program that can help the individual meet their most immediate needs, such as shelter or clean clothes.
Cost-Effective Solutions and Long-Term Impact
That’s not where the story typically ends, though. For instance, PAD will assign a case worker to conduct a needs assessment and help individuals connect with services and housing options. This model has helped PAD divert hundreds of cases away from Atlanta’s detention facilities.
Programs like PAD are also less expensive for cities than jailing people experiencing homelessness. For instance, Atlanta’s city council approved a $5 million funding request for PAD to expand operations in 2025. If the program was not in place, Atlanta may have paid more than $17.7 million to jail the more than 500 people who were diverted away from the carceral system.
PAD can also help cities like Atlanta reduce the number of people living on the streets. The last Point in Time Count found 1,040 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the city, a 7% year-over-year increase.
“PAD works to reduce the arrest and imprisonment of people experiencing extreme poverty, substance use, and mental health concerns; it has increased the accessibility of supportive services in Atlanta and Fulton County. PAD has the data and success rates to show that their approach works,” Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, wrote in a letter to lawmakers in support of expanding funding for PAD.
Diversion Program Success in Other Cities
Other cities like Denver and Dallas have also invested in diversion programs, with varying results. In Dallas, outreach workers with Homeward Bound, the city’s diversion program, have successfully diverted more than 1,700 people away from jails in Dallas and Collin counties. More than 60% of the diversions involved households with children. The program operates on a nearly $11 million budget, according to its latest annual report.
San Diego, California, is also considering using tiny home shelters that are currently serving people experiencing homelessness as part of its diversion program. The city plans to use an $8 million state grant to buy two temporary housing sites as part of the diversion program, but homeless advocates have expressed concerns about using the sites.
The Need for Compassionate Solutions
Handcuffs will never solve homelessness. The pandemic proved that we need to rethink housing in the United States. It also showed that many programs designed to address homelessness are rooted in law enforcement rather than social services.
Tell your representatives you support revamping how your city addresses homelessness. Handcuffs do not get anyone closer to stable housing. Instead, we must focus on compassionate solutions, the first step to ending homelessness.
