Coming home from jail or prison in AtlantaA short guide: who to call first and what to expect.
Start with your ID, because almost everything else asks for it. Get your birth certificate first, then a Georgia ID and a Social Security card. The Social Security card is free. Crossroads Community Ministries and Emmaus House help people get these papers.
For a place to live, ask your parole or probation officer about reentry housing before you take the first room you find. Houses differ a lot in price and rules. Ask what it costs each week, what the rules are, and whether they take people with your charge. IMAN Atlanta and other groups listed here run reentry housing with job training.
For work, some employers hire people with records on purpose. The Center for Employment Opportunities gives paid work right away to people who are just out. First Step Staffing places people fast, often in warehouse jobs. Georgia Works is a live-in work program for men who have been homeless.
To clear your record, call the Georgia Justice Project at 404-827-0027. Georgia lets you seal many old arrests and some convictions, including many misdemeanors after four years with no new conviction. A sealed record stops showing up on most job and apartment checks. Their help is free.
For food, a drug conviction does not block you from SNAP (food stamps) in Georgia. Apply at gateway.ga.gov.
To vote, you can register again once you finish your whole sentence, including probation and parole. A misdemeanor never takes away your right to vote.
When you call a program, they ask about your release date, your supervision and your record. Answer plainly. It helps them place you.
4Horsemen is a nonprofit that helps men and women coming home from jail or prison. They offer coaching, mentoring, and life-skills classes, and they help people connect with housing, job, health, and other community help. Most programs run about 16 weeks, and mentoring can last 4 to 18 months.
Georgia Justice Project helps people in Georgia who have been affected by the criminal legal system. It offers free legal help, such as defense lawyers for some Fulton and DeKalb cases, record clearing, and help ending probation early. It also gives social service support and teaches the public about records, voting rights and work licenses. It cannot help everyone who applies.
PAD is an Atlanta nonprofit that offers help instead of police response or jail for people dealing with extreme poverty, substance use, or mental health problems. You can ask for a PAD team by calling 311. PAD also gives case management to people diverted by law enforcement or with open court cases.
The Georgia Department of Community Supervision watches over people on state parole or probation in Georgia. Its reentry staff help people leaving prison or under supervision find housing, work, and mentoring. The Atlanta field office serves Fulton County.
Essence of Hope is an Atlanta nonprofit that has helped people with housing and support since 2007. It offers housing for people who are homeless, veterans, people coming home from jail or prison, and people finishing court programs. It also helps with case management, job readiness, and benefits sign-up.
LifeChangers, Inc. is a nonprofit that helps men and women who have been in the justice system and people returning home. It offers free job workshops, a free one-year mentorship program, a resource directory, and a place to complete court-ordered community service. Its workshops teach job searching, applications, resumes, and interviews.
New Beginnings helps people who have left prison get ready for work and daily life.S. Attorney's Office and run by the Urban League of Greater Atlanta in downtown Atlanta. It offers an eight-week class followed by guided help with a job search.
This nonprofit helps young Black men ages 18 to 28 build better lives. It offers free workshops, job readiness classes, mentoring, and referrals to other agencies. It also works with employers who hire program participants.
Barred Business is a group started in 2020 by formerly incarcerated Black women.E. program for formerly incarcerated women and works on bail, voting rights and fair laws for people with records. People with records and their families can join as members.
Project Restart is an Atlanta nonprofit that helps people with criminal records and people who are locked up. It offers a free 12-week training program, one-on-one reentry support, a six-week program inside two facilities, and free online resource guides. The 2026 cohort is already full, and new details are expected in 2027.
The Salvation Army Center of Hope is a shelter and housing center at 469 Marietta Street in Atlanta. It offers emergency and transitional housing for homeless men, women, and families with children. It also has a 90-day drug treatment program, help moving into permanent housing, a re-entry program, and a program for veterans.
Livelikemike Homes is a nonprofit that runs recovery and transitional homes in Atlanta. The homes are drug-free, structured places for men and women who are working on their recovery. Residents get clear house rules, peer support, and daily support to help them stay sober and move toward independent living.
Women on the Rise is led by women who have been in jail or prison. It helps women coming home with case management, monthly support circles, and links to housing, jobs and mental health care. It also organizes for fairer laws and helps people learn about their voting rights.
Safe Care Homes Group is a nonprofit in Atlanta that rents shared, all-inclusive homes to people with low or no income. Its homes serve seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, people in recovery, and people coming home from incarceration. It also offers home health care and a money management service for people who get Social Security or veterans benefits.
Game Changing Men is a group that supports masculine-presenting people, including transgender men, men of color, and men who have been in jail or prison. It offers support groups, workshops, a 24-week class on family violence for male-identified people, mentoring for people inside jails and prisons, a yearly retreat, and a youth leadership program.
The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice is the state agency for young people in the juvenile justice system, up to age 21. It runs probation, case management, and programs for youth in its care, such as mental health care, substance use treatment, school, and chaplain services. Its Office of Victim Services helps crime victims with information, release notices, compensation applications, and restitution updates.
Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) Atlanta helps people with criminal records prepare for work and find steady jobs. It offers paid temporary work, job training, coaching, and support after hiring. Its current office is at 261 Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard; older directories list 938 Peachtree Street.
The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) helps people who have recently come home from jail or prison get a job. Workers start paid transitional work right away on a work crew. They also get job skills training, job coaching, help finding a permanent job, and support to keep it. CEO opened its Atlanta office in 2021 and is expanding its work on the Westside.
This is the office that prosecutes felony crimes in DeKalb County. Its Victim Services staff guide and support people hurt by crime, give crisis counseling, send court notices, and make referrals. The office also runs diversion programs that let some people avoid a regular prosecution.
STRIVE Atlanta is the Atlanta site of a national job training group. It offers free job training for adults and young adults, plus career coaching, help finding a job, and support that continues after you are hired. To start, you sign up for an info session.
