Mandated Community Serviceis in all Youth Justice Programs.

Mandated Community Service– Requires the youthful offender to help the community.– The youth volunteers in the program deliberate and required

the youthful offender to complete community service hours for their crime, offense and/or violation.

– Community service agencies are often utilized to help oversee completion of community service obligations and/or a program may operate their own program or a combination of both.

– Strive to make the mandated community service meaningful to the youthful offender and the community.

Some Say Mandated Community Service….

Serves a broad array of sentencing needs:– Reduce fines or shorten period of probation– Match community service to offense (e.g.,

False 911 called complete community service with Emergency Medical Services)

Serves both the offender and community– No teaching or learning– Nothing more than punishment

Has value as a rehabilitative sanction– Provides an opportunity to “give back.”

Does Mandated Community Service….

Facilitate Rehabilitation?– Difficult to imagine a connection

between community service and rehabilitation.

Reduce Recidivism?– No direct evidence to make this

claim. Contribute to Balanced and

Restorative Justice?– This appears to be the place that

community service makes the most sense.

Community Service Is An Essential Component of Balanced and Restorative

Justice

Balanced and Restorative Justice

– Community service is strongly associated with the “accountability” goal of balanced and restorative justice.

– Accountability – when an offense is committed a harm is incurred and an obligation to repair that harm is also incurred.

– Community Service is an effective way for offenders to address that obligation.

An Educational Perspective:Community Service Learning

Community Service Learning (CSL)– Links skills and knowledge gained in

school to community. – Students learn through:

Active participation in thoughtfully organized service

Connections with other schools / communities

Fosters civic responsibility Enhances curricula Allows students to reflect

National and Community Service Trust Act, 1993

Benefits Community Service Learning

Benefits Include:– Develop critical thinking and

problem solving skills– Gain a better understanding of how

to make a constructive change– Form meaningful relationships with

others– Develop a deeper understanding of

community problems– Gain a sense of individual

effectiveness– Recognize need for involvement

Benefits Mandated Community Service

Benefits Include:– Develop critical thinking and problem

solving skills– Gain a better understanding of how to

make a constructive change– Form meaningful relationships with others– Develop a deeper understanding of

community problems– Gain a sense of individual effectiveness– Recognize need for involvement

The Same Benefits as Community Service Learning

Community Service Helps Achieve Balanced and Restorative Justice

Objectives

Accountability - Victim focused activity– Repair harm to community– Address individual culpability

Community Protection – Community safety focused activity

– Structured, positive activity with positive role model

Competency Development – Skill Building activity

– Punctuality, work skills, cooperation, taking direction, task-related skills (e.g., carpentry, book binding, painting)

Mandated Community Service and “At-Risk and High-Risk” Juveniles

Targeted Benefits– Promotes individual accountability

for offenders– Provides at-risk youth opportunities

to “connect” with community, adult role models, and positive peers

– Creates a tangible record of meaningful and positive accomplishments

– Improves community well being– Helps develop skills – social skills,

job skills, academic skills

“Good” Community Service Versus “Bad” Community Service

Good Community Service…..– “Meaningful” to the victim– High level of community

involvement– Public acknowledgement of

service by the community– An opportunity for offender to

reflect on harm and on reparation– Skill development opportunities

“Good” Community Service Versus “Bad” Community Service

Bad Community Service Programs

Not related to originating offense, victim, or community– Punitive– Demeaning– Pointless - not valued by

victim, community, or juvenile.

Examples“Good” Community Service

Provide meaningful work service projects for youth offenders.

Enable them to provide restitution to victims. Guide them to establish bonds between themselves and

the community. Provide a service learning experience. Integrates critical thinking and civic responsibility. Place them back into their communities.

Examples“Good” Community Service

(A Program in Oregon – one Example)– 7,988 Community Service Hours

Ordered in 2004– 7,176 Hours (90%) Community

Service Completed– 83% of cases with community

service completed all community service obligations.

– Oversight and tracking takes place frequently.

– Youth Justice staff are involved in some group/individual projects.

Examples“Good” Community Service

– Participation in community service helps youth learn marketable skills:

Construction, Carpentry, Home repair, Office Skills, Gardening

– Impacts community significantly Recycle 5 million pounds of

materials annually Grow and deliver more than a ton of

fresh produce to needy families Renovate homes through habitat for

humanity Provide painting, construction, and

clean-up to roads and trails.

Examples“Good” Community Service

– Juvenile Court Community Service at Food Bank

– Juveniles volunteer at the food bank to disseminate baskets of food, stock shelves, and helping needy persons shop.

– Juveniles “give back,” make connections with community, work with positive role models, learn job skills.

Steps to Developing and Implementing Effective Community Service

Mission – Include Mandate for Community Service

Judges, Administrators, Staff – Committed to Community Service

Agency Operations – Community Service Integral to Policies, Procedures

Victims – Should be “On Board” Community – Partnerships at

Neighborhood and Individual Levels Group Projects / Resources – Creative,

meaningful, productive, valued Outcomes – Measure, Report, Celebrate,

Improve

Case Closing ComparisonsExample of a chart programs can complete

Cases Closed in 2004: Percent Completed Community Service in Full

93%99%

93%98% 97% 100%

92% 90%

79%

98% 96% 99% 97%92%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N

Counties

Individual County Baseline - (94%)

www.GlobalYouthJustice.org

Global Youth Justice encourages local programs to make effort to offer higher quality mandated community service projects for the youthful offenders sentenced by their peers in local youth courts, student court, teen courts, peer courts, and youth peer panels.

Consider age, group projects, educational classes that relate to work projects.

Review the Giving Back Book on GYJ Website