NCJ Number
172144
Journal
American Jails Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: (July-August 1997) Pages: 69-70
Date Published
1997
Length
2 pages
Annotation
The Student-Inmate Work Crew was established by the sheriff of Mecklenburg County (N.C.) in collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Probation and Parole, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System, and juvenile court judges to enable juvenile probation violators to do community service on the weekend and attend school during the week.
Abstract
The county has approximately 100 students of high school age on supervised probation at any time. These students reappear in court almost daily for probation violations and are usually committed to jail for 30 days or more. However, interrupting their education makes future unemployment and further incarceration more likely. The program is intended for youths who are ages 16, 17, and 18; who are currently enrolled in school; and who are recommended by their probation officers for the work crew. They work on school property, because most of these youths' problems involve school. Their tasks include mulching flowers and shrubs, picking up rocks on athletic fields, pulling weeds, painting, washing graffiti off buildings, scrubbing gymnasium showers, and other manual labor. The students report to the jail at 6 p.m. Friday and are released on Sunday at 6 p.m. They wear jail-orange clothing while working. They clean the jail until 11 p.m. Their Saturday schedule goes from 4:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. and includes meals, work, and counseling. the Sunday schedule ends at 6 p.m. Some of the youths comment that this work is the hardest they have ever done or ever hope to do. The program has operated for 6 weeks; probation officers and school officials report that students' attitudes have improved. Photographs