Finding Community Service To Fulfill a Court-Order or School Obligation
credits and disclaimer and Why should you trust the information on this web page?
credits and disclaimer and Why should you trust the information on this web page?
Introduction
Have you been assigned community service hours by a court? As part of your probation or sentence? By your school as a requirement for a class or for graduation?
No matter the reason you have been assigned mandatory community service, there are a lot of options for you to complete your required service. This is advice to help you get started as quickly as possible and have you finished as soon as possible. This advice also might help you turn this experience from a "have to" into a "want to", into something that will benefit YOU.
Note that there is NO charge for the advice on this page, and the opportunities recommended do NOT charge volunteers for participating. Part of the reason I offer this page is because of many unscrupulous web sites out there offering documentation for community service for a large fee or a "donation." That's unethical at best and illegal at worst. More on that later.
Rules
Mandatory community service or a "Court Referral Program" is an alternate sentencing option for Superior, Municipal, Traffic and Juvenile Courts in the USA. These courts have the option to assign community service hours to someone found guilty of a crime, in addition to, or in lieu of, incarceration and/or a fine. Community service can also be done as a condition of probation. Community service is considered restitution by an offender through helping his or her community. The service means actions, activity, engagement -- doing something that needs to be done and that helps the community or a cause.
Community service as a requirement of graduation from school is a practice that comes from the idea that young people should understand that they have obligations as citizens or residents of an area to be a part of the community: to know at least some of its challenges and strengths and to be able to work with others in supporting initiatives that are addressing those challenges or building up those strengths. Again, the service means actions, activity, engagement -- doing something that needs to be done and that helps the community or a cause.
Therefore, your mandated community service will need to be done at a registered nonprofit organization or through a government agency, and it will have to be approved by the court or your probation officer or school before you begin it.
A registered nonprofit is one that has a federal tax i.d. number. If you aren't sure if an organization is a registered nonprofit, ask if they have a federal tax id number, or look up the organization on Guidestar.org, a database of all registered nonprofit organizations in the USA.
Your mandated community service probably cannot be done to benefit a community of faith (churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, etc.). Check with your probation officer, your court liaison, a teacher at your school, or whomever has assigned you with community service to make sure your service is going to be accepted before you begin working with such an organization.
You may be permitted to volunteer with a government agency, such as a public school, a city-sponsored anti-drug program, a state park or a national park, a community court, a jail or prison, etc. Check with your probation officer, your court liaison, a teacher at your school, or whomever has assigned you with community service before you begin to make sure they will accept such service.
You may also be permitted to volunteer with a for-profit company if that company provides services to the community and involves volunteers, such as a for-profit hospital, a for-profit hospice, a for-profit home for people with intellectual disabilities or a for-profit retirement community (but not a restaurant, a motorcycle shop, a computer store, a pet store, etc.). Check with your probation officer, your court liaison, a teacher at your school, or whomever has assigned you with community service to make sure before you begin working with such a company. The reality is that they are going to prefer you to help at a registered nonprofit organization.
Volunteering with nonprofit organizations with religious affiliations, such as Habitat for Humanity or the Boy Scouts of America, is usually permitted, but check with your probation officer, your court liaison, a teacher at your school, or whomever has assigned you with community service to make sure. Note that you do not have to express any religious affiliation or a belief in God to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, but you DO have to express a belief in God in order to volunteer for the Boy Scouts (and note that you do NOT have to profess any religious faith to volunteer with the Girl Scouts of the USA).
Helping family with tasks (taking your grandmother to the grocery, cleaning your mother's house, baby sitting your sister's kids, etc.) will probably NOT be accepted as your community service.
Volunteering for an organization promoting a cause that is considered political may or may not be allowed: Volunteering with a nonprofit that advocates for foreign languages to be taught in schools or that helps to register voters might be allowed while volunteering for a political party probably will not be. Check with your probation officer, your court liaison, a teacher at your school, or whomever has assigned you with community service to find out what is and isn't allowed.
It is your responsibility to understand the court's or school's or university's requirements for documenting your community service.
It is your responsibility to make prior arrangements with each organization where you wish to volunteer and to ask if they are able to meet your documentation requirements.
An organization has every right to fire you / let you go as a volunteer, no matter how urgently you need to complete your community service. They are under no obligation to keep you -- especially if you have missed shifts, violated policies, etc.
If you are at all worried about finding or finishing your community service hours on time, then buy a paper notebook or make a spreadsheet, and capture the name of every organization you call or sign up with to express interest in volunteering, the date you contacted the organization, date you talked with the organization (if at all), and, if the organization turned you down to volunteer, information on their reasoning. At the time you have to provide documentation on your volunteering, present this documentation that shows all that you did to find volunteering activities; it should be a list of at least 50 organizations. Your teacher or probation officer or judge may or may not give you an extension to get your hours, but they most certainly will NOT if you don't have this documentation ready to share with them.
Do NOT pay any organization that says they will give you documentation regarding completed community service in exchange for a fee or a "donation," without your having to actually do any volunteering. Do not pay any organization that has a web site offering to help you complete court-ordered community service but that does not have a nonprofit ID number posted on its web site, a list of its board of directors (full names), a list of staff (full names), a physical mailing address, and that says you get the community service in exchange for a donation. Do not pay any organization that says it is a nonprofit but is not listed at Guidestar. Do not pay any organization that posts ads on Craigslist saying they can help you get documentation for court-ordered community service. These companies are unethical at best and illegal at worst (at least one person has been arrested and convicted for running such a scam).
What to Say When You Contact an Organization
When you contact an organization to inquire about service hours, don't say immediately, "I have to have so many hours of community service." Say, instead, "I want to volunteer with your organization and want to know how I can get started right away." That is not lying - you will tell the organization about your community service obligation at a far more appropriate time. Organizations do NOT have to take every person who wants to volunteer and, therefore, they prefer people who seem to want to be there rather than those that have to be. Once you find out about volunteering at the organization, and if you are interested in that volunteering, then you say, "I will need a letter by a certain date (and provide that date) that says how many hours I have volunteered at the organization, what I did as a volunteer, etc. I have to provide this to my probation officer/the judge in charge of my case/my teacher at such-and-such highschool/university, etc. Will you be able to provide that?" If they say yes, ask how your hours of service will be tracked - you may be asked to track these hours yourself.
In answer to the question, "Why do you want to volunteer," on a form or in an interview, you should most certainly say that you are volunteering so that you can fulfill mandated community service - always be truthful about why you need community service hours. But you can also say something about the organization's work that you like ("I care about the environment, I think the arts are important, etc."). When you are talking with the organization during your first orientation or interview, tell them how many hours you need for your community service, and by what date.
Be honest about any and all convictions when you are filling out your volunteering application. Some volunteer roles will ask for your arrest record as well. An arrest or conviction will NOT necessarily disqualify you from volunteering (it depends on the organization, the type of work it does, the population it serves and the volunteer tasks). If your service is court-ordered or a part of your probation, you must be up-front in your interview and on your volunteering application about your conviction.
If the organization wants you to track your days and hours yourself, write your days and hours down on paper or on a spreadsheet on your computer, and keep this information up-to-date! Track the days you volunteered, the times you volunteered, and a little about what you did.
You may need to volunteer at multiple nonprofits in order to get all of the hours you need within a given time frame.
Documenting/Tracking Your Hours
Do NOT wait until your service is over to announce that you need a letter confirming your hours, or that you need to organization to sign your spread sheet. Tell the organization from the very beginning that you will need a letter stating how many hours your contributed to the organization, the start date of your service, the end date of your service, and a summary of what kind of service you provided.
If the organization wants you to track your days and hours yourself, write your days and hours down on paper or on a spreadsheet on your computer, and keep this information up-to-date! Track the days you volunteered, the times you volunteered, and a little about what you did.
Take It Seriously
No organization is under any obligation to involve you as a volunteer, no matter how much you need those community service hours, and they can fire you immediately. You may be under more scrutiny because the organization knows you are performing this volunteer (unpaid) service because you have to, as compelled by a court.
So take your service seriously. Be a dependable volunteer who is polite, follows the rules, shows up on time, and takes pride in getting tasks done appropriately and on time. If you miss shifts, violate policies, seem to not be taking tasks seriously, are goofing off, are unpleasant, are late, etc., you will probably be dismissed - and, no, the court won't help you.
Where to Find Community Service Opportunities
There are many web sites where you can find places to complete your community service:
Note that HandsOn Portland, Oregon has a web site specifically for people that need community service, especially court-ordered, to help them get placed quickly.
For Canada:Voluntary Organizations Consortium of British Columbia
Idealist/Action Without Borders
NOTE: Most traditional volunteering activities have been suspended or completely curtailed because of the current pandemic. Much of the rest of the content on this page is not applicable when there is a raging, deadly pandemic. Please see Volunteering in the time of the novel coronavirus/COVID-19: how to find opportunities and how to stay safe, and keep others safe, while volunteering.
You can call organizations directly, based on your own interests, to find community service / volunteering. If you like animals, for instance, call your local animal shelter.
Most farmer's markets are run by nonprofit organizations. Many of these markets need help with setting up the market, taking down the market, and the evening before the market, putting together food boxes for subscribers to their CSA (community supported agriculture) programs. Helping with all these tasks in just one week can get you, at minimum, 8 hours of service, and you often can contact these organizations with just 24 hours notice to help.Goodwill is an excellent option for volunteering, especially if you are a person trying to re-enter the workforce.
Nonprofit theaters and performing arts centers are often in need of ushers in the evenings and on weekends for theater, music, opera and dance performances; you not only get volunteer hours, you get into a show for free! Call local nonprofit theaters, including community theaters, to see if they need ushers and when you could participate.
There are some one-day volunteering activities, but these fill up very quickly, even months in advance.
For instance, Habitat for Humanity's house-building days are often booked several months in advance. It's worth looking into, but know that you probably won't get to volunteer for many weeks, even months, after signing up. Habitat for Humanity does more than mobilize volunteers to build houses - many chapters also hold repair events, mobilizing volunteers to do yard work, exterior painting, major or minor repairs, and more for the elderly, people with disabilities, people with low incomes and others in need. Also, many Habitat Humanity affiliates operate a ReStore: a store that sells used furniture and tools, leftover construction items and other materials and items, with sales going towards helping to fund affordable housing, house repairs for US military veterans, classes in home ownership and more. These ReStores need volunteers to help carry items from vehicles into the warehouse, to cleanup items, to help keep the showroom beautiful and inviting, to help with marketing, especially online, and more. Volunteers are needed to take photos of items at the ReStore for online marketing, photos at special events and home builds that the Habitat affiliate can use on its web site and in social media, volunteers to scan archival material (old newspaper articles, prints of photos, etc.), and more. If you are interested in volunteering, contact the affiliate and be clear about what it is you are interested in doing as a volunteer. Visit the web site of the nearest Habitat for Humanity chapter to you - if you don't see such opportunities online, write your nearest Habitat for Humanity and let them know how you could help as a volunteer, your availability (how many hours a week you could give, for how many weeks), and any other information you think will help them want to engage you as a volunteer.
There are also one-day beach clean-ups, river clean-ups and park clean-up activities. To find these, you will have to call various organizations: the United Way, state and city park offices, the Sierra Club, etc. When you call, say, "I am looking for any upcoming one-day beach cleanups, one-day river clean-ups, one day park cleanups, etc. Do you know of any that are coming up?" If they say yes, ask for details and if you could sign up for such.
Each individual chapter of the American Red Cross involves volunteers in a variety of ways. Each individual chapter of the American Red Cross involves volunteers in a variety of ways. Almost all across the USA have blood drives and urgently need volunteers to help - this is a GREAT way to get a LOT of community service hours within a month or even a week. Volunteers at blood drives help check people in or staff the snack table where donors sit for a few minutes after they have donated blood. The Red Cross software and system makes staffing the registration table an incredibly easy volunteering activity, and it's nice to greet people as they enter. They also need volunteers to sit at the snack table and make sure people who have just donated are okay - that means you just talk to people, ask them how they are, make small talk etc. The web site makes it SO easy to sign up to be a "blood donor ambassador" and then find shifts when your training is done. Find your local chapter of the American Red Cross and look at their web site for information about volunteering. You will have to attend an orientation, which may be online or onsite, and, depending on the chapter, some training (again probably online). And added bonus: your volunteering hours, which include training, are automatically tracked on the Red Cross software you use to sign up for activities! On a personal note: I really can't emphasize enough how easy and fun staffing a blood drive can be. You never have to deal with any blood, btw, and if anyone has a medical issue or gets nauseous, that's not something you have to deal with either.
Farmer's markets and artisan festivals are often nonprofits, and need people to be runners. You need to contact these in advance - do NOT just show up at the event and say, "I'm here to volunteer!" You will be rejected if you do so.
Contact the Girl Scouts of the USA council office that serves your area and see if there is a Girl Scout day camp or single event in your area that you could help with as a volunteer (please note that, if you are volunteering as a part of court-ordered community service, certain arrests and criminal convictions will prevent you from volunteering with the Girl Scouts; always be honest about past arrests and criminal convictions).
If you have been convicted of any crime related to drugs, contact nonprofits and government offices in your area that are working to stop people from using drugs and ask them if you could volunteer in some way (the United Way may be able to help you identify these). If you have been convicted of any crime related to gang activity, contact nonprofits that are working to reduce gang violence and see if you could help as a volunteer in some way.
Do not wait until the last minute to try to volunteer!
You will probably need to call several places just to get an appointment for an interview! It may take two to three weeks before you get started volunteering even if you start calling right away!
Do not call a place and expect to get 40 hours of community service in one week, starting tomorrow.
Do not show up at a work site unannounced. For instance, don't just show up at a Habitat for Humanity work site and say, "I'm here to volunteer." You need to call several WEEKS beforehand and go through their formal application and orientation process.
You will have to be trained for just about any volunteering you want to do, but training will almost always be counted as a part of your community service time if you complete at least a few hours of volunteering.
If you are volunteering as a part of court-ordered community service, have at least two references who are NOT family members and could attest to the positive aspects of your character. You will need the full names, the phone numbers, the email addresses and the physical addresses for these people, ready to write on any volunteer application. These references should be former or current employers, former or current co-workers at a job, a leader at your community of faith (priest, preacher, elder, Imam, head cleric, choir leader, Pujari, etc.), a neighbor you have done work for, someone at another organization you have volunteered for, etc. Your reference could even be your lawyer or your probation officer, or even a policy officer who believes you deserve a second chance.
Online Volunteering
Most volunteering that you can do from your home or a school computer requires a certain degree of expertise, such as designing flyers, maintaining a web site, translating text, editing video, designing a database, writing press releases or funding proposals, managing online social networking activities, etc. Even if you have the expertise necessary to volunteer online, you will still probably have to go onsite to the organization you want to help, to introduce yourself, to go through their orientation, to meet staff, and maybe even to convince them to allow you to volunteer online (virtual volunteering).
Also, some courts and schools will NOT count online volunteering as part of your community service. You must get permission first before you embark on online volunteering to meet your community service obligation.
This web page provides complete information about volunteering online. It has a list of legitimate places to volunteer online, with legitimate nonprofits.
At-Home Volunteering
There are some Home-Based (in your own home) Volunteering Where Your Service is NOT via a Computer or the Internet.
These are activities that you do in your own home, like making blankets, however, you must register online first, get approval, and report your service online.
Will My Criminal Record Prevent Me From Volunteering?
If you have a criminal record that you believe might prevent you from easily-finding volunteering opportunities onsite at nonprofit organizations, and the online volunteer consider these additional options:
When you call an organization, you say, "Hello, my name is ________________. I am putting together lunch-time/evening presentations for the _________________ public housing project. People come to our community and make a presentation about a subject our residents need to know about. I'm calling to see if anyone from your organization would be available to speak about __________________." Note to the person that you do not have money to pay speakers. You do not ever have to say you are doing this for mandated community service.
You will have to ask the person who is requiring you to do your service hours if this kind of speaker's forum is acceptable, since you would be doing it on your own and no one can supervise how many hours you have volunteered. Ways to confirm that these activities happen is to:
You could count 1.5 hours for every presentation that happens, plus around an additional five hours to count for the time you spend before the first presentation happens in confirming a place to hold the presentation, identifying at least 15 places that might be able to help with a speaker, engaging in activities to get people to come to the presentation, etc. That means that, after 10 speakers, you would be able to count about 20 or 25 hours of community service time. After 30 speakers, you would be able to count about 60 to 75 hours.
An added bonus of doing this kind of speaker's forum; you should put that you did this on your rísumí! Potential employers would be VERY impressed with this!
If you have a lot of time and enough money, you can go on these volunteer "vacations", but make sure your probation officer, court liaison or school approves (in writing):
Transportation
YOU are responsible for your transportation to and from a volunteering site. Choose community service activities that are near your work place and home, that you can easily get to by bike, by mass transit or by walking if you don't have a car or other reliable transportation.
The Value of Your Service
You aren't just completing mandatory service hours. As you complete your community service, you are:
If you are volunteering to help you get into a university, note that different colleges and universities have different application processes. Some ask for volunteering hours, some don't. Those that do may want you to fill out a particular form, others will want you to supply letters from the organization confirming your hours, and still others will want you to write a narrative about why you volunteered, what you learned as a part of your experience, why you think volunteering is important, etc., and don't care about number of hours at all.
Is It Community Service Or Volunteering?
It's both! When you perform legitimate community service with a legitimate organization, that's also volunteering. For most nonprofit organizations, the designation "volunteer" is for anyone that is not paid by the organization. Therefore, volunteers include people who are required to provide community service by a court or a school. Most organizations will treat you the same way they treat all of their volunteers. In many circumstances, other volunteers and even most of the paid staff at an organization won't know you are being required to provide community service; to them, you will be just another volunteer, like all other volunteers.
Warning!: Potential Scams Re: Community Service
There are a growing number of companies, some nonprofit, some for-profit, that claim if you pay them a fee, or if you will donate a certain amount of money to them, they will provide you with a letter for the court, your probation officer, a school, etc., saying you have performed a certain number of community service hours. I've blogged about some of them here. One of the companies even charges a monthly fee for users to track and report their community service hours - something anyone can do for free on a shared GoogleDoc spreadsheet.
If you find such an organization online and it's a for-profit company, then, were it legitimate (and I'm convinced none are), you should be able to find on their web site:
Also see:
How to Find Volunteering Opportunities, a resource for adults who want to volunteer Advice for Volunteer Groups / Group Volunteering. Volunteering with organizations that help animals and wildlife. Volunteering on Public Lands in the USA (national parks, national forests, state parks, wetlands, etc.) How to Make a Difference Internationally/Globally/in Another Country Without Going Abroad Fund Raising For a Cause or Organization Using Your Business Skills for Good - Volunteering Your Business Management Skills, to help people starting or running small businesses / micro enterprises, to help people building businesses in high-poverty areas, and to help people entering or re-entering the work force. Creating or Holding a Successful Community Event or Fund Raising Event. Advice for family volunteering - volunteering by families with children and, related, advice for teaching children compassion & understanding instead of pity with regard to poverty. Home-Based (in your own home) Volunteering Where Your Service is NOT via a Computer or the Internet (at least not to actually DO the volunteering service, but you may need to report your work online). Ideas for Leadership
Volunteering Activities Ideas for Creating Your Own Volunteering Activity. How to complain about your volunteering experience. Donating Things Instead of Cash or Time (In-Kind Contributions) Group Volunteering for Atheist and Secular Volunteers Helping People Address
Their Problems with Plastic Ideas for Funding Your Volunteering Abroad Trip. Details on volunteering abroad (volunteering internationally). Volunteering To Help After Major Disasters. Careers Working With Animals (for the benefit of animals)
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 The Last Virtual
Volunteering Guidebook available
for purchase as a paperback & an ebookThis book is for both organizations new to virtual volunteering, as well as for organizations already involving online volunteers who want to improve or expand their programs. The last chapter of the book is especially for online volunteers themselves.
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Please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials.
Disclaimer
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document. Use this information at your own risk. The page author
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