a not-for-profit agency that arranges community service work for adult
offenders referred from the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court,
Cleveland and other local municipal courts, as well as the U.S.
District Court and the County Prosecutor's Pre-Trial Felony Diversion
Program.
The mission of Court Community Service is to design and manage an efficient system of
quality alternative sentencing options responsive to the needs of the courts and
the community.
The
Program Offers Several Benefits...
A judge may choose to place an offender in
this community service program. Regardless of past training or
education, offenders are assigned tasks working under close
supervision. Court referrals comprise a wide spectrum of men and
women of all ages, talents, and job capabilities. Some have no
skill sets and have never held a steady job, while others may
have senior management and academic experiences. Some may be physically or
age-disabled. And still others may possess special craft abilities
as cabinet-makers, electricians, or computer
programmers.
CCS
evaluates and matches, to the extent possible, each referral to the
needs of a wide range of agencies. Once the offender is assigned, CCS provides the
judges with in-depth monitoring and documentation. Its centralized
data system tracks the referrals' activities while detailing number of
hours worked, variations in performance, and other pertinent information
for the judges' review.
Community Benefits...
Referrals are placed in more than 300
not-for-profit and government agencies available throughout the county,
including housing programs, hunger centers, churches, thrift stores,
and social service organizations. Their diverse community service
activities range from litter collection, landscaping, maintenance,
painting, and clerical tasks to professional activities such as tutoring
and data
entry.
Expanded Agency
Services. Utilizing CCS referrals, local agencies can
provide expanded resources to their constituencies. Over the
years CCS has established many long-term working relationships with
local user agencies. These referrals have returned millions of
hours in restitution to our
community.
Improved Work
Attitudes. This service experience allows referrals the
opportunity to modify work behavior and, possibly, better their life
styles. Although positive changes vary widely within this offender
population, the CCS program has sometimes resulted in striking
improvements in an offender's outlook and subsequent job
performance.
Continued Service...
As judges develop increasing confidence
in the CCS sentencing alternative, the demand for its service continues
to grow. With its extensive data system and dedicated staff, CCS
has the capacity and capability to process many more
referrals.
Cuyahoga County Benefits...
A
program of the Cuyahoga County Courts greatly benefits our
community. Judges have the option to sentence offenders of minor
felonies, traffic violations, and less serious crimes to repay
society by serving the community. Since 1985, more than 400
not-for-profit and government agencies in Greater Cleveland have
obtained millions of uncompensated person-hours to enhance their
range of service activities.
Court Community Service
(CCS) functions as the administrative arm of this program. It has only one mission: to implement the Cuyahoga County judicial directives for referrals with complete management, placement, and follow-through responsibility.
CCS referrals have contributed millions of hours to community-based non-profit
agencies. CCS counselors place many clients in churches, housing programs,
hunger centers, thrift stores, and social service organizations. The work
activities they perform range from litter collection, landscaping, maintenance,
painting, and clerical chores to professional tasks, such as skilled trades and
tutoring.
Court Community Service referrals have contributed
millions of hours to community-based, not-for-profit
agencies.
