Description
As jail and prison populations rise, our society increasingly seeks sentencing alternatives that are both fair and practial. The CCS Mission... Court Community Service (CCS) designs and manages an efficient system of quality alternative sentencing options responsive to the needs of the courts and the community. Established in 1985 under a grant from The Cleveland Foundation, CCS implements the directives of courts within Cuyahoga County for community service with complete follow-through and reporting. CCS is the first of these programs in the United States organized and available to service multiple courts throughout the county. CCS accepts all court referrals, a challenging task given the broad range of referral ages, education, and job capabilities. There is no pre-qualification screening process. When sentenced, the offenders may be employed or unemployed with little or no previous work experience. Some possess no obvious skill sets, while others may have special craft abilities, such as cabinet-makers, electricians, or plumbers. Still others may hold management, academic, or leadership responsibilities. And some may even be physically disabled. All CCS referrals, whatever their backgrounds, work off their debts to society in closely supervised settings. CCS placement counselors carefully evaluate and try to match referrals with community service needs. They also consider the referral's work, school, and family schedules...