NCJ Number
80391
Date Published
1981
Length
315 pages
Annotation
This report evaluates seven community service restitution (CSR) projects, by measuring the programs' effects on offenders, criminal justice systems, and communities.
Abstract
In addition, the report compares projects to specify strategies and conditions leading to wider and more effective use of CSR with various types of clients. Projects provided comprehensive support and information services for clients, used client selection criteria, made voluntary social and vocational rehabilitative services available, and monitored sentence performance. The seven projects were (1) Alternatives -- A Community Service Restitution Program for Women, Arrowhead Regional Corrections, Minn.; (2) Baltimore County Volunteer Community Service Program; (3) Northeast University Community Service Restitution Program in Massachusetts; (4) Jacksonville Community Restitution Clearinghouse in Florida; (5) Offender Aid and Restoration project in Charlottesville, Va.; (6) Prisoner and Community Together (PACT) program in Porter County, Ind.; and (7) San Francisco Community Services Project. Data were collected from site visits, client surveys, surveys of criminal justice and placement agency staffs, and baseline studies of 100 clients from each location. Results indicated that the programs were beneficial and that clients' and the criminal justice systems' reactions were generally positive. Projects with fewer layers of management and with more autonomy for project managers ran more smoothly. Other success factors were realistic objectives; firm commitment from criminal justice personnel, referral agents, and placement agencies; and coordination of planning and implementation. The report notes impacts of CSR on judges' sentencing patterns, the criminal justice system, project costs, and existing State and local laws. Among related legal issues studied were sentencing alternatives, diversion processes, defendant's right to counsel, voluntariness of waiver, involuntary servitude, and insurance. Appendixes contain study data, data collection forms and codebooks, and the table of contents from the Handbook on Community Service Restitution. For an executive summary of this report, see NCJ 80392.