Adult Community Service Order
What Is The Adult Community Service Order Program?
The Community Service Order Program attempts to bring the community and the offender together. It does this by involving the community in the justice system.
Community service hours are non-paid work hours performed by an individual as part of a sentence. When ordered by the court, a person completes hours by working at a non-profit or for-profit agency which uses volunteers, for example; a private nursing home.
How Does The Program WorK?
For individuals convicted of a crime and placed on probation or sentenced to a conditional discharge and probation (no conviction), or a conditional sentence, a judge can order a set number of hours of community service work to be performed.
The role of the John Howard Society is to place the individual with an appropriate non-profit organization or for-profit agency and monitor the completion of these hours.
Why Does The John Howard Society Run This Program?
- Community alternatives to jail can have a powerful rehabilitative effect and are less expensive to run
- It encourages offenders to develop a sense of responsibility towards their community
- It exposes offenders to positive role models
- It encourages community acceptance of offenders as community members
- It provides the opportunity for the offender to get involved in the community in a positive way
- It provides a way to pay back the community
Who Is Eligible?
An individual who has been ordered by the courts to perform community service hours as part of
- A conditional sentence
- A probation order
