Fulton County commissioners have approved spending $30,000 for transitional housing and case management for mental health clients of the Public Defender’s Office. County funds are to be matched by in-kind services worth $30,000 by United Way of Greater Atlanta.

The money will be for transitional housing services and case management of seven to 10 mental health clients at a time, with 30 to 40 Fulton County Jail inmates served annually.

The program seeks to assist clients suffering from substance abuse, medical and/or mental health problems. They are to be placed in treatment facilities as soon as possible after arrest as an alternative to incarceration.

A memorandum of understanding involving Fulton County, the Public Defender’s Office and United Way specifies that the program is for chronically homeless persons able to operate in a semi-independent, shared living situation.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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