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INITIATIVES
Restorative Justice Center,
Inc
Born at the suggestion of the Regional
Homelessness Commission in 2003, the purpose of the Restorative Justice
Center, Inc. (RJC) is
to raise funds and awareness for
the programs of the Atlanta Community Court. Some
may ask, why start a non-profit organization? Judicial ethics prohibits the Court from
accepting contributions to support its many programs. Therefore, the Regional Homelessness
Commission, looking at "best practices" nationwide recommended that The
Community Court establish a nonprofit organization.
The RJC will provide funding streams
and grant assistance for many of the existing court programs and help develop
others. The current founding
Board members plans to expand participation to twelve members. Long range plans, beginning in 2005,
include the development of an Advisory Board composed of community leaders,
consumers and those in recovery.
The RJC, in addition to securing
new funding, will also manage existing grants. One
of the first goals is to seek funds to re-instate the Men's and Women's
in-custody programs.
Benefits Procurement
The Community Court assists defendants who
are potentially eligible in obtaining and/or
re-instating their SSI benefits. It
is difficult and often frustrating, especially for those individual who
are seeking treatment options and housing and may have mental health concerns,
to gain access to Social Security. The
Courts' SSI liaison for benefits procurement walks the defendant through
the process step-by-step. The
SSI liaison works closely with the Mental Health Assessment Team , the
Atlanta City Department of Correction's Medical Staff and our Service Providers. The goal of Benefits Procurement is to
assist incarcerated SSI/SSDI applicants by completing the forms. They applicants are generally not on
probation, nor would they need supervision by the liaison because they
are already incarcerated. The
defendants who are eligible for benefits can be described as being: temporarily
institutionalized, blind and/or physically disabled, or recommended from
the Court's own Mental Health Team.
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