SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT-Community Service Program

Social Service

Juvenile Probation and Court Services

SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT
Community Service Program

Community service is a sanction which the court can impose as a condition of probation, conditional discharge or supervision. The court imposes this sanction for varied purposes. It is imposed as a form of retribution; as a form of restoration/reparation; and as an opportunity for rehabilitation.

The Social Service Department has developed a Community Service Program to provide the court with an alternative to jail and to achieve the constitutional (Illinois) objective of this court-imposed penalty, which is to restore the offender to useful citizenship. The Department's Community Service Program has the following goals:

to offer the court an alternative sanction for offenders placed on supervision or sentenced to conditional discharge;
to offer public not-for-profit organizations the opportunity to utilize the services of offenders ordered to perform community service;
to require offenders to participate in a form of reparation to the community; and
to require offenders, through community service work, to perform productive and lawful activity and to be associated with lawful and productive citizens.

When an offender is sentenced to reporting conditional discharge or placed on reporting supervision by the court, Department caseworkers review all the conditions imposed, determine the risk to public safety posed by the offender, conduct a bio/psycho/social assessment and subsequently develop an appropriate correctional treatment strategy. An offender is directed by the caseworker to complete the community service hours within the context of the entire correctional treatment plan. For example, an offender with a significant substance abuse problem will be directed to the appropriate substance abuse intervention, e.g. detox or inpatient treatment, prior to being directed to perform community service.

As a component of a comprehensive intervention, community service often builds better community relations. Community organizations experience "criminals" as real people with human struggles. The offender experiences, sometimes for the first time, the intrinsic rewards of productive labor and the sense of belonging. Based on the principles of accountability and restitution, offenders come to the understanding that there are consequences for unlawful behavior.

In fulfilling the Department's mandate to direct offenders toward compliance with their court orders, caseworkers utilize a process of assessment to provide and facilitate correctional interventions and treatment appropriate to the charge and situation of each offender. Efforts are made to match the degree and level of services to the offender's risk of recidivism.

Worksites and Placement
The Social Service Department has developed a network of approximately 500 not-for-profit organizations throughout Cook County which participate in the program. These organizations comprise:

townships
police departments
libraries
nursing homes
community organizations
hospitals
animal shelters
food pantries
schools
Cook County Forest Preserves
Salvation Army
Goodwill Industries

Offenders perform unskilled, semi-skilled and professional services depending upon individual abilities and the needs of the organizations.

Through an eligibility assessment, Department caseworkers identify the skill levels of the offenders, as well as other individual factors to determine appropriate worksite placements, i.e., criminal history, offense committed, other court conditions/sanctions, correctional treatment plan, health, employment schedule and residence.

When the caseworkers complete the eligibility assessment, they contact one of the community service placement offices. The placement personnel match the results of the eligibility assessment to the needs/requirements of the organizations participating in the program. The placement decisions are communicated to the assigned caseworkers who then direct the offenders to the worksites at particular times and locations.

The Department's Community Service Program clerical staff coordinate with the worksites to track community service hours completed by the offenders. This information is electronically stored in the Department's database for immediate access by assigned caseworkers and court officers throughout the Circuit Court. Absenteeism, tardiness, failure to perform assigned tasks and inappropriate behavior at the worksite result in an offender's termination from the assigned organizations.