The University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government conducted a study on traditional adjudication methods and found that individuals prosecuted in the state of Georgia cost taxpayers over $20,000 per individual in post-sentencing costs!¹¹ This figure does not reflect the taxpayer costs associated with conducting arrests or prosecuting individuals. Not only is traditional adjudication an ineffective use of taxpayer funds, it indefinitely perpetuates adverse results made evident by Georgia’s historically high recidivism rates.

Traditional adjudication creates a cycle of crime. Once a person is convicted, obtaining gainful employment becomes extremely difficult, and in some circumstances impossible. A conviction blocks access to federal student aid and housing resources which prevents individuals from pursuing higher education and often results in homelessness, or worse. The psychological effects of this type of alienation leads to desperation and hopelessness which forms the underlying cause for criminality.

In Georgia, starting in 2011, alternatives for traditional adjudication have been implemented on a limited basis and the results therefrom thoroughly studied. These alternatives are known as Accountability Courts. In 2017, the Council of Accountability Court Judges and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council partnered with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government to conduct an economic impact analysis of the 1,729 Georgia Accountability Court program graduates.

The study found that each graduate produced $22,129 in economic benefits to the state. That is a total of $38.2 million. In addition to the economic benefits, spending for Accountability Court participants saved taxpayers almost $5,000 per individual. Traditional adjudication costs taxpayers $20,230 per individual. Accountability Courts cost taxpayers $15,523 per individual. The report concluded that the recidivism rate for program graduates was at about 15% nationally.¹²

Despite taxpayer savings, economic benefits and reduced recidivism rates, Georgia’s Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget has slashed Accountability Court program funding in consecutive years.¹³

RED’s evidence-based curriculum focuses on rehabilitative and educational measures instead of the punitive sanctions imposed through traditional adjudication. RED creates a classroom atmosphere inside the courtroom and treats program participants as students rather than criminal defendants. Our program is structured to develop each participant’s social, civic, and financial literacy rates.

This is done through task-oriented learning, engaging workshops, and interactive modules that consist of various modalities for learning, interpreting, retaining, and re-applying the content of each subject matter.

Participants are matched with mentors on a one-to-one ratio. Mentors are assigned to their mentees during the third month of our year-long program and remain actively engaged through graduation. Mentor matches are made based on the results of our individual needs level of service intake assessment which was prepared by a double board-certified adult and child psychiatrist. The assessment includes an emotional intelligence evaluation. This procedure affords us the opportunity to develop an accurate profile on each program participant.

Public and private sector organizations partner with RED to foster participant development through meaningful community experiences. Each monthly module includes a relevant to the subject matter prosocial and pro-community outing for participants and their mentors.