At-Promise Centers find success keeping Atlanta’s young people on right path

Once again, the At-Promise Center helped her through it, teaching her the crime didn’t define her. Sims, now 23, is an intern at the center and a mother and is attending cosmetology school. She credits it all to the support she continues to receive.

Since 2017, the Atlanta Police Foundation has opened three At-Promise centers, serving more than 2,000 young people ages 12 to 24. Next year, a fourth center will open to help additional youth. The goal is to give the city’s teens an alternative to being on the streets and getting into trouble, and it’s working, according to the center leaders and those like Sims who are part of the program.

The centers are more than just a hangout space. Various organizations throughout the city offer a wide-range of services for those in the centers, ranging from help with school, counseling, mentoring and health and wellness. There is help for those wanting to earn a GED and career planning.

Every participant is evaluated, and a plan is put in place to meet their specific needs. There is no cost for any of the services.

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

There are also fun activities, such as crafts and pickup basketball, plus camps and summer activities for when school is out. Snacks and dinner are provided too.

Sparking change

The Atlanta Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization, created its At-Promise Initiative with one goal in mind: Reduce crime by providing young people with an alternative path.

In 2016, the Atlanta Police Department investigated 111 homicides, making it the city’s deadliest year in nearly a decade, according to the agency’s crime data. APD saw a 17% increase over the 95 homicide cases in 2015, leading city leaders to look for solutions.

On Aug. 1, 2017, a ribbon-cutting was held for the city’s first At-Promise Center, located on Cameron Madison Alexander Boulevard in the English Avenue neighborhood. It’s now called At-Promise West.

The center quickly earned national attention. In a ceremony on May 3, 2019, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray honored the At-Promise Center as a recipient of a 2018 Director’s Community Leadership Award. The recipients were honored in a ceremony at FBI headquarters.

With the help of corporate donors, the second At-Promise center opened in April 2021, a 17,000-square-foot facility on Metropolitan Parkway in the Pittsburgh community. And a groundbreaking was held for the third center in December 2020.

The centers quickly filled a void in providing a way to get kids off the streets.

In 2022, 19 children and teens were among Atlanta’s 170 homicide victims, according to department data. Shootings during the holiday season killed four under age 18. Deshon DuBose, 13, was among the young victims claimed by violence in 2023. He was leaving Cascade Family Skating on Jan. 21 when he was shot to death, according to police.

Mayor Andre Dickens kicked off his “Year of the Youth” plan in January 2023. Among the programs the mayor has championed to keep young people safe are midnight basketball games and the Police Athletic League, along with a program to employ teens during the summer. The city and police departments have collaborated with the school system to keep kids off the streets and out of gangs.

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

Credit: NATRICE MILLER

The partnerships between various groups help make the At-Promise centers a success in addition to providing their services at no cost to participants, those involved with the youth say.

Atlanta Police Sgt. Kimberly Williams is part of the Secure Neighborhood Program, which is run by the police foundation. The program assists officers with buying homes in areas that could benefit from extra patrols. In exchange, Williams spends time at an At-Promise Center, where she might be found on the basketball court.

She warns she won’t go easy on the kids when it’s time to shoot hoops. But Williams loves the interaction with young members of her community.

“It introduces police to children and teenagers in a positive way,” Williams said. “A lot of times in the inner city, that first meeting is because of a crime where they’re the suspect or the victim or have family members in jail. I don’t like for us to pull up on scene and kids are scared of us.”

Officer Menos Bouquette said he never had a bad encounter with police when he was growing up, and he wants young people to have that same experience.

“Officers are not all bad people,” he said. “We can also help them and point them in the right direction.”

Bouquette says he works with the center staff to find out how he can best help.

Breaking barriers

Participants may be referred to the At-Promise programs from a variety of places, including court programs, police agencies, those dealing with juvenile crime as well as schools, according to program leaders. Walk-ins are also accepted.

If a teen has been in trouble, that’s OK, according to Lakeisha Walker, the At-Promise chief of programs for youth.

“We’re a very inclusive program,” Walker said. “We focus on three pillars: diversion, intervention and prevention. That’s one of the things that makes our program different from other youth service agencies. We want that young person who has had negative contact with the criminal justice system or with law enforcement.”

Walker grew up in the community she now serves and feels that helps her connect with program participants. After-school programs were part of her life, she says, and she could have easily been one of those teenagers in trouble with the law. But traditional programs likely aren’t enough to combat young people that commit crimes, Walker said.

“A lot of times it’s not that the kid is bad. It is that they are lacking support,” she said. “They’re lacking support. They’re lacking supervision. They’re lacking love. They’re lacking resources. So they are products of their environment.”

A child or teen may have basic needs, such as clothing or food, that are keeping them from reaching their potential, the At-Promise staff says. There are resources available to help.

If keeping up with schoolwork is a problem, tutoring is available. And if a student has been suspended from school, there are teachers to check in with them at the centers to make sure they stay on track.

There is a GED program for those needing to obtain their diploma, along with certification programs for trades such as heating and air conditioning maintenance to help program participants with careers. One recent recipient of a GED was a young man facing a homicide charge for being in the “wrong place at the wrong time,” Walker said.

The teen was kicked out of school and his judge and probation officer recommended he focus on his GED through the At-Promise Center. Those at the center are hopeful the evidence will show he wasn’t the one responsible in the death, and he’s taking the steps to get his life on track.

There is also a computer lab, as well as a recording studio for those interested in pursuing music as a career.

It’s participants like the young man and Sims who are among the program’s biggest success stories.

“Her story is the type of young person we want to serve,” Walker said. “And she’s someone we’re extremely proud of, and now we’ve hired her as one of our front-desk staff.”

On a recent afternoon, teens were relaxing and hanging out, some socializing, others making candles in a nearby booth. It’s a carefree environment, though many of the program participants are facing a variety of real-world situations. The centers aim to keep everyone on the right path and out of trouble.

“We’re holding them accountable, but at the same time making sure that they know you can come to the At-Promise and have a second chance,” Walker said.

ATLANTA’S AT-PROMISE CENTERS

At-Promise South: 836 Metropolitan Pkwy SW

At-Promise Southwest: 2220B Campbellton Rd SW

At-Promise West: 740 Cameron Madison Alexander Blvd NW