Articles

Atlanta Community Court: Alternatives to Jailing the Homeless

Faith And The City Newsletter
Volume 4 Issue 1
Winter/Spring 2004

Congregations of faith can help end homelessness by expanding their support beyond merely feeding people who are homeless, according to Atlanta Community Court Presiding Chief Judge William F. Riley Jr.

"We must also shelter, cloth, educate, and prepare homeless people for productive lives," explained Riley, whose court is part of the city's Municipal Court system and deals with crimes such as disorderly conduct, panhandling, prostitution, and low-level drug offenses. "We can't just give them a fish; we have to teach them to fish."

Atlanta Community Court "teaches fishing" primarily through alternative sentencing programs, with faith-based organizations, among others, working closely with the court to provide such alternatives. Recognized nationally for its nontraditional approach, the court collaborates with local governments and the private sector, along with faith-based and other nonprofit organizations, to employ sentencing alternatives to traditional fines and incarceration. For example, Riley estimates that 70 percent of the people assessed by the court's trained caseworkers are drug abusers and half are mentally ill. An offender with a substance abuse problem may be given two alternatives, time in jail or enrollment in a rehabilitation program. Similarly, people with mental health issues may be offered psychotherapy as an alternative.

There is a range of other alternative sentencing options. HIV/AIDS awareness instruction can expand offenders' understanding of the disease. Community service assignments allow offenders to give back to their communities. Enrollment in the city's adult education programs leads offenders to high school equivalency diplomas. Working with Travelers Aid of Metropolitan Atlanta, the court reunites an average of one homeless person per day with family or other support systems.

In September 2003, the Mayor's Commission on Homelessness and a City Court Review Panel called for a major expansion of Community Court, emphasizing the court's philosophy that the criminal justice system better serves the community by employing alternative sentencing options for low-level offenses. The court's annual case count was approximately 8,000 last year, more than twice the national average. However, available resources allowed assessments in only about 2,000 cases. The goal for this year is 3,000 assessments.

Riley emphasized the unique role that faith-based organizations can play in providing sentencing alternatives that better serve the community and the offender. "For example, almost every effective drug treatment program has a higher power [faith] component," the judge noted. "So every congregation that wants to work in this area already has the basic ingredient to succeed."

For more information on Atlanta Community Court, visit the court's website at http://www.georgiacourts.org/courts/
atlanta_community or call 404-865-8172.


Selected Articles from FATC Newsletter on Homelessness
Congregations Can Help End Homelessness
Special Report: A Day in the Life of a Homeless Person
Blueprint to End Homelessness: Seven-Point Plan Recommendations
Interfaith Group Build Houses for Families, Bridges for Community
Shelter A Family: Lighting the Path from Homelessness to Self-Sufficiency
Atlanta Community Court: Alternatives to Jailing the Homeless
Who are the Homeless? Highlights of the Tri-Jurisdictional Survey
Download pdf of Faith And The City Newsletter on Homelessness