by Jayne Cravens
coyoteboard.com (same web site)

Hosting People Doing Mandatory Community Service:

resources for the nonprofits, communities of faith & other programs being asked to host such volunteers.

Intro:

Mandatory community service or a "Court Referral Program" is an alternate sentencing option for Superior, Municipal, Traffic and Juvenile Courts in the USA, and this is pretty much the same pattern followed in other countries. Community service is considered restitution by an offender through helping his or her community, through a volunteering (unpaid work) experience with a nonprofit, government program and, sometimes, a religious organization. The service means actions, activity, engagement -- doing something that needs to be done and that helps a community or a cause.

Mandatory community service in the USA is also becoming a requirement for people receiving government assistance for housing, food and medical care, including people receiving unemployment benfits. Note that while it is becoming a requirement for low income people, it is NOT a requirement for for-profit corporations that receive government assitance and tax breaks.

Anyway...

I call community service people volunteers. I call anyone a volunteer that is giving time to a nonprofit but not getting paid by the organization for that time, so that means I include unpaid interns getting college credit, or executives on loan, or a group from a local company that's spending the day volunteering

A lot of nonprofits automatically refuse to involve any person that wants to volunteer in order to complete court-ordered community service, because leadership or staff that work with volunteers:

think involving such volunteers will instantly put their clients in danger (spoiler alert: it doesn't)
think such volunteers won't perform service as well as people volunteering for other reasons (that's a myth)
think such volunteers will require more supervision than other volunteers (that' another myth)
have had more negative experiences with such volunteers than they have with people who volunteer for other reasons

What's amusing to me is when I ask nonprofits that refuse to involve people who need community service hours how many of their current volunteers have ever been arrested or convicted of a crime, they realize they don't know, because most nonprofits don't do criminal background checks on most of their volunteers, or even their paid staff.

The reality is that if you have the proper screening, onboarding, supervision and support in place for ALL volunteers, regardless of why they are volunteering, and such is adjusted based on what volunteers will be doing (how much they will be working directly with clients, if they will ever be alone with another volunteer, etc.), you should be welcoming people who are doing court-ordered community service to apply to volunteer. .

Your Nonprofit Can Say No to Any Volunteer Applicant - or Even All Volunteers.

Unless volunteer engagement is a part of your strategic plan, unless your nonprofit sees volunteer engagement as something important to its operations, your nonprofit is not under any obligation to involve volunteers beyond the volunteers serving on your board of directors. That said, I think it's stupid - yes, I said stupid - for a nonprofit to not engage volunteers. The benefits of volunteer engagement go so far beyond money saved.

Your nonprofit can say no to anyone that wants to volunteer. You can say no because:

the applicant didn't fill out the application completely or appropriately.
the applicant doesn't have a schedule that accommodates your schedule for volunteers.
the applicant doesn't have skills or abilities you can leverage.
the applicant's behavior during the orientation and other screening processes was such that you feel they are not a good match with your organization.
the applicant's accommodation needs are too extensive for your organization to be able to reasonably accommodate
the applicant needs to volunteer only once, for three hours, and you don't have a role like that (such a short amount of time isn't worth YOUR time).
the applicant needs to volunteer for 40 hours this week, and you don't have a role like that
the applicant wants to bring their children, and unless your organization provides childcare or you have made sure your site for volunteers is safe for children, you can't accommodate children
the applicant has been convicted of a crime that, as you have stated in your policies and procedures, disqualifies them from volunteering with your organization (such as a violent crime)
the applicant is a part of a work study program or probation program that requries more administrative oversight and paperwork than your nonprofit can accommodate
the applicant is a famous celebrity and you are afraid that the resulting paparazzi and fans also trying to volunteer to get close to the person would be too disruptive to your program (I have never heard of this happening, BTW)

You can say no for no reason at all - there is no right to volunteer. That said, try to always have a reason that you can say to someone who has filled out your application as to why you cannot engage them as a volunteer.

First Step: Your Staff Has To Know How to Work with Volunteers

Anyone at your organization who will work with volunteers, and anyone who supervises staff that will work with volunteers, MUST understand the basics of quality volunteer management.

There's an assumption that anyone and everyone know inherently, without training, how to do all that's needed to involve volunteers successfully - or that you just simply point volunteers at a pile of work and wish them well. But the reality is that there are specific points about volunteer engagement and support your staff need training on, and there are very real risks in not providing this training at least yearly Nonprofits, NGOs, government agencies, community groups and more rarely make training employees and lead volunteers a priority when it comes to volunteer engagement.

Everyone at your organization should know how to create roles for volunteers. Training shouldn't be limited to paid employees: leadership volunteers should also know as well. Staff should know how to look at all that they, or their department, has to do and be able to identify tasks that volunteers could do. They should know what support volunteers need. They should know how to report what volunteers have accomplished, what challenges volunteers have faced, and problems with volunteers. They should know what a policy violation looks like and the process for dismissing a volunteer. Train Staff in Volunteer Engagement (and understand the risks you face if you don't).

Review & Revise Your Volunteer Onboarding Processes

How you onboard volunteers who are going to handle money, work with clients, talk with the public, work with someone one-on-one, etc., should be far more extensive than how you onboard a volunteer who will always be in a group setting with other volunteers. A nonprofit that mobilizes volunteers to clean up beaches should do criminal background checks on board members, crew leaders and anyone who will have access to volunteer personal info, like their mailing addresses and phone numbers; it is unnecessary to do a criminal background check on every person who shows up to put trash in a bag.

If you don't have the steps volunteers must go through in order to volunteer with you, in writing, your nonprofit really shouldn't be involving volunteers at all, let alone people who are court-ordered to volunteers. If you haven't thought about what volunteers who have NOT undergone a criminal background check should and shouldn't be doing, again, your nonprofit really shouldn't be involving volunteers at all, let alone people who are court-ordered to volunteers.

Requirements of ANYONE That Wants to Volunteer

Anyone that wants to volunteer with your organization, for whatever reason, should complete your organizaton's volunteer application and the waiver - no exceptions.

If you might ever take photos of volunteers, then at the point of applying, volunteers should sign a photo release and be told why they are doing so - and you should think about how you might accommodate someone who does not want their photo taken during service (if you can accommodate them - if you can't, say so and wish them well).

All volunteers should receive an orientation that reviews safety issues, know where to find the Code of Conduct, sign something that says they've read the Code of Conduct, and have received guidance on how to report violations of the Code of Conduct.

Volunteer Application

You should have ONE volunteer application for ALL potential volunteers - you should NOT have one for people doing community service and one for others.

On that application, you are going to ask standard things - first and last name, email, phone, date of birth, residence, emergency contact, etc. These should be mandatory fields - those that don't answer would not be allowed to volunteer with you.

You should also ask on the application:

How did you hear about volunteering with our organization?
What volunteer activities are you most interested in? (allow people to say "I don't know").
What abilities or skills do you have to share as a volunteer? (allow people to say "I'm not sure").
What days, and times of day, might you be available for volunteering?
If there is a certain number of hours you hope to do every week, please enter it here:
Are you volunteering as part of court-ordered community service?
Have you ever been convicted for any of the following: felony assault, felony theft/burglary or fraud, crimes involving children, or any sexual misconduct?
Please tell us, if you feel comfortable doing so, about any ability accommodations that we should know about (such as not being able to stand for several minutes at a time, not being able to use steps, that you will have a personal assistant with you while you volunteer, etc.).

All but the last question should be mandatory to answer.

Volunteer Roles

It's a good idea to limit ALL new volunteers, not just those who are volunteering to do community service, to roles that don't require a criminal background check. These include roles where:

the volunteer will never be alone with another person, isolated from being seen or heard by any others.
the volunteer does not interact with members of the public by themselves, unsupervised by someone that can guide them and can always observe them.
the volunteer does not have access to any volunteer, staff member or client's personal information, such as their phone number and residential address.
the volunteer does not handle money.
the volunteer does not produce any product that is not first reviewed by a staff person or a volunteer in a supervisory or leadership position.

If a volunteer takes on a role where they could be alone with another person, might interact with the public in an unsupervised setting, might have access to confidential information, etc., you should consider both a criminal background check and a reference check (talking with former employers, current or former teachers, etc.). Remember that, in the USA, a standard criminal background check provides information only about arrests and convictions in your state; if someone has arrests or convictions in another state, a standard criminal background check will not reveal this. FBI check.

Tracking Community Service Activities

Those that have been compelled by the court to do community service must provide documentation to their probation officer or directly to the court that they have done that community service. There are two ways to do this:

Require that ALL volunteers sign in on a paper sign in sheet upon arriving to volunteer, and sign out on the same sheet. A lead volunteer or staff person would look at this sheet at the end of the day and verify its accuracy (John said he volunteered from 9 to 3 that day - did he?).
Require that ALL volunteers sign in via a digital system upon arriving to volunteer, and sign out the same way. A lead volunteer or staff person would look at this sheet at the end of the day and verify its accuracy (John said he volunteered from 9 to 3 that day - did he?).

It's a good idea if the person doesn't just report hours: it's a far better idea for them to also say what they did that day, in one or two sentences, and the staff person or volunteer they worked with most that day. That's a good idea for ALL volunteers, not just court-ordered voluneers. That allows the nonprofit to have data it needs about ALL volunteers: how many hours they are giving and what they are actually doing.

Be sure to grant the volunteer an hour or two of community service time on their documentation for the time they spent filling out their volunteer application and any other paperwork, and going through your orientation and safety briefings. You may want to grant them another hour of community service time if they volunteered for more than three days, to cover the time they spent checking in and out.

Someone from the nonprofit then writes and signs a letter that verifies the number of hours the volunteer did, and what kinds of activities they engaged in. The person who has to do community service then submits this to their probation officer or the court.

You can dismiss a volunteer

You can dismiss (fire) a volunteer for any reason or no reason at all. There is not right to volunteer. That said, you do no one any favors by dismissing them without giving a reason why. Reasons can be:

a violation of something in your Code of Conduct
a safety violation
a volunteer that's unreliable (late, can't find the volunteer during their shift, etc.)
the volunteer is unable to do the assigned tasks, for whatever reason

If your Code of Conduct is clear and you communicated it to all volunteers, no volunteer should be shocked or confused if they are dismissed for violating it.

Treat all volunteers equally

If volunteers get a special recognition once they have donated 50 hours to your organization, then EVERY volunteer that does this gets this, including those doing volunteering to fulfill court-ordered community service.

If you have an annual picnic for volunteers, then ALL volunteers get invited, including those doing volunteering to fulfill court-ordered community service.

If volunteers get a certificate when they leave thanking them for their service, people doing volunteering to fulfill court-ordered community service also get such a certificate.

Don't be surprised when some community service folks end up wanting to stay

Just like any other volunteer, someone doing volunteering for court-ordred community service may have such a good experience that they keep volunteering with you. I have frequently worked with people doing court-ordered community service who end up volunteering far beyond their court-ordred obligation. I have also worked with employees of nonprofits who started off as volunteers at that organization doing court-ordered community service!

In Dec. 1977, Bill Gates, then 21, spent a night in Albuquerque jail after he was stopped for a traffic violation. He didn't have his driver's license or any cash for $100 bail. He wasn't assigned community service - but what if he had been? And had had a great experience? And decided to give the nonprofit where he'd done that service a grant because of how well he was treated?

Resources

Below are a mix of web pages and blogs about different aspects of community service. Most are focused on court-ordred community service, but some are also related to government requiring people who receive government benefits to volunteer a certain number of hours at nonprofits or related to students being required to do a certain number of volunteering hours in order to receive a degree.

Regarding court-ordered community service:

Why your nonprofit should consider involving volunteers who have been court-ordered to do community service and how doing so can improve ALL of your volunteer engagement. Includes suggestions for altering how you screen ALL volunteers and how to adapt your volunteer application and policies.
Advice for those assigning or supervising court-ordered community service, a resource is for judges, probation officers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other criminal justice practitioners that are involved in assigning and supervising court-ordered community service.
Advice for those doing required community service, whether court ordered, ordered by the government because you receive a certain benefit (unemployment, housing assistance, food assistance, etc.) or because you must complete a certain number of hours in order to graduate
Assigning law breakers to community service: worthwhile?: note that this is not a blog about whether or not it affects recidivism, but rather, if its worthwhile for nonprofits asked to involve such volunteers., 2016 August 18
Ethics in Volunteerism & Court-Ordered Community Service
If your organization involves volunteers, you should also be thinking regularly about the ethics of such. Involving people who are not financially compensated for work that they do carries with it regular questions and criticisms. Exploring ethics in volunteerism has not won me many friends. Exploring ethics in volunteerism can help you avoid public relations disasters later.
Supervising online volunteers in court-ordered settings: how to supervise online volunteers that are doing community service because of a punishment or probation. 2015, September 09
Schools & Courts: you need to accept historical transcription online projects as community service. 2020 July 20.
Mandatory community service can be amazing for the “voluntolds”. April 2024
Yes, I love court-ordered community service folks: how I have involved people compelled by the courts to finish community service. 2015 August 07
r/communityservice, an online community on Reddit that I moderate; I frequently post news and resources by other people here, and sometimes my own. I do not own this community: anyone can submit information to it. As the volunteer moderator, I delete only that information that is off-topic or violates the rules of the subredit. This a terrific place to discuss mandatory community service.

Selling Community Service Hours:

What are the consequences of allowing court-ordered volunteers to make a donation instead of actually doing service? My blog from July 2026, with a link to an article I did for the Engage Journal exploring this issue in depth. I'm apparently the first person to do research on this subject. If you work in the courts system, whether a judge, a lawyer, a probation officer or someone in law enforcement, I highly recommend you read this blog and you read the article (there is a fee to read - if you subscribe for just one month to Engage, it's a very affordable amount).
Want a list of all the companies selling community service hours? I have it.. December 2025. This offer is ONLY for officers of the court, and you will be required to request this list from your government email address and use your real name.
Consequences for faking community service, 2019 April 24
Courts getting tougher re: online community service. 2017 January 12
Proud to fool courts re: community service. a testimony from someone that admits to benefiting from a company that sells letters saying people have completed volunteering when they actually haven’t., 2016 August 10
Selling community service leads to arrest, conviction, update on how Community Service Help has gone away, and the owner of the notorious the Caffeine Awareness Association pled guilty to a false-filing felony. 2016 July 01
Haters gonna hate, November 2014 update on Community Service Help and other similar, unethical companies. 2014 November 24
Community Service Help Cons Another Person – a first-person account by someone who paid for online community service and had it rejected by the court. 2014 February 18
Online community service company tries to seem legit, a November 2013 update about efforts these companies are making to seem legitimate. 2013 March 26
Update on a virtual volunteering scam. 2012 November 06
Courts being fooled by online community service scams, an update from November 2011 that is the most popular blog I’ve ever published. 2011 November 09
Online volunteer scam goes global, a July 2011 update with links to TV stories trying to expose these scam companies.
What online community service is – and is not – the very first blog I wrote exposing a company selling community service completion letters. It resulted in the founder of the company calling me at home to beg me to take the blog down and to mansplain to me what online volunteering is (he had no idea who I was or my reputation regarding virtual volunteering)., 2011 January 07

Commentary on Requiring People Receiving Government Benefits to Volunteer:

These are mostly about how these are unfunded mandates that put undue pressure on nonprofits and various government agencies to spend resoruces to involve these volunteers.

Kentucky Governor Bevin & Donald Trump Are Wrong on Community Service Requirements, 2018 January 15
Kentucky politicians think volunteers are free: a very disturbing move in 2016 by the Governor of Kentucky to require people receiving government financial assistance to undertake community service.

Also see

All my resources for the support & engagement of volunteers
It's enough for a book.

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