NCJ Number
75715
Date Published
1981
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The procedures for developing a composite evaluable model for community service sanctioning projects are described, and initial impressions about community service sanctioning projects are presented, followed by a preliminary draft of a composite community service sanctioning project.
Abstract
Following interviews with directors of 108 projects, 20 projects were selected for study, based on their diversity in type of restitution (predominantly monetary, predominantly community service, both monetary and community service, or either monetary or community service), administrative auspices, phase in the criminal justice system, geographic location, and residential or nonresidential programming. Plans are underway to develop an evaluable model of a community service sanctioning project and an evaluable model of a monetary restitution project. Because of similarities in the inputs, activities, and outputs, it is believed that one model can be developed for each type of programming. Programs using both monetary restitution and community service sanctioning will probably reflect some merged version of the two models being developed. A draft composite model of a community service project involving the major activity components, outputs, and outcomes is presented. Tenative conclusions from the study thus far are that (1) the community service projects predominantly serve misdemeanants; (2) the projects appear to have the capacity to serve a large number of offenders at nominal costs; (3) generally, the projects have not had any major problem finding opportunities for offenders to perform unpaid community service; (4) the projects have, at best, collected evaluative data on inputs and outputs and the number of hours of service performed; and (5) the projects have highly successful completion rates. One figure is provided.