Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as receiving a free lunch. In many countries, there are programs to encourage people to do community service. In some cases, it is possible to replace a criminal justice sanctions with community service; there may also be school or class requirements. Obtaining certain benefits may be linked to doing some form of community service. For all these reasons, it is distinct from volunteering.
Contents
Background
Community service is a non-paying job performed by one person or a group of people for the benefit of their community or its institutions. Community service is distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed on a voluntary basis and may be performed for a variety of reasons, including:
Required by a government as a part of citizenship requirements, like the mandatory "Hand and hitch-up services" for some municipalities in Austria and Germany, or generally in lieu of military service (see: Zivildienst and Alternative civilian service) or for civil conscription services.
Required as a substitution of, or in addition to, other criminal justice sanctions – when performed for this reason it may also be referred to as community payback or compensatory service.
Mandated by schools to meet the requirements of a class, such as in the case of service-learning or to meet the requirements of graduating as class valedictorian.
As an workfare obligation, as condition of the receipt of social and financial benefits, see Workfare in the United Kingdom
In Sweden, it is a suspended sentence called "samhällstjänst" ("society service").
Educational community service
Some educational jurisdictions in the United States require students to perform community service hours to graduate from high school. In some high schools in Washington, for example, students must finish 200 hours of community service to get a diploma. Some school districts in Washington, including Seattle Public Schools, differentiate between community service and "service learning", requiring students to demonstrate that their work has contributed to their education. If a student in high school is taking an Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) course, community service is often needed. Whether American public schools could require volunteer hours for high school graduation was challenged in Immediato v. Rye Neck School District, but the court found no violation.
Many other high schools do not require community service hours for graduation, but still see an impressive number of students get involved in their communities. For example, in Palo Alto, California, students at Palo Alto High School log about 45,000 hours of community service every year. As a result, the school's College and Career Center awards 250–300 students the President's Volunteer Service Award every year for their hard work.
Starting in 2010, Danish high school students receive a special diploma if they complete at least 20 hours of voluntary work.
The International Baccalaureate program formerly required 50 hours of community service, together with a written reflection on the service performed, to fulfill the requirement of 150 hours of CAS (creativity, action, and service) and receive an IB diploma.
Though not technically considered a requirement, many colleges include community service as an unofficial requirement for acceptance. However, some colleges prefer work experience over community service, and some require that their students also continue community service for some specific number of hours to graduate. Some schools also offer unique "community service" courses, awarding credit to students who complete a certain number of community service hours. Some academic honor societies, along with some fraternities and sororities in North America, require community service to join and others require each member to continue doing community service.
Court-ordered service
People convicted of a crime may be required to perform community service or to work for agencies in the sentencing jurisdiction either entirely or partially as a substitution of other judicial remedies and sanctions, such as incarceration or fines. For instance, a fine may be reduced in exchange for a prescribed number of hours of community service. The court may allow the defendant to choose their community service, which must then be documented by "credible agencies", such as non-profit organizations, or may mandate a specific service.
Sometimes the sentencing is specifically targeted to the defendant's crime, for example, a litterer may have to clean a park or roadside, or a drunk driver might appear before school groups to explain why drunk driving is a crime. Also, a sentence allowing for a broader choice may prohibit certain services that the offender would reasonably be expected to perform anyway.
In the United Kingdom, community service is now officially referred to by the Home Office as more straightforward compulsory unpaid work. Compulsory unpaid work includes up to 300 hours of activities, such as conservation work, cleaning up graffiti, or working with a charity. The Howard League for Penal Reform (the world's oldest prison reform organization) is a prominent advocate for increased community sentencing to reduce prison population and improve rehabilitation.
Community service for institutions
Many institutions require and/or give incentives to students or employees alike to volunteer their time to community service programs. From volunteering to participating in such charity events like walks or runs, institutes continue the practice or require their employees or students to grow in camaraderie while giving back to various communities. Many institutions also provide opportunities for employees and students to work together, and most student groups participate in their own form of community service. Each is unique in its own right; all are incredibly popular with employees; and in all of these programs, human resources plays an integral role.
One such program, Johns Hopkins University, under the leadership of Johns Hopkins University president Ronald J. Daniels and the chief executive officer of Baltimore City Schools, the university's human resources and community affairs departments worked with the school system to develop the Johns Hopkins Takes Time for Schools program in 2009, launching it on March 3, 2010. The program is a service partnership aimed at providing support and assistance to Baltimore City Schools (BCS) while providing faculty and staff an avenue for community service, offering their talents to the city's youth and improving the administrative and educational capacities of the area's school system.
Some institutes even give their students or employees a guaranteed number of days or weeks of leave for certain acceptable community service programs. One example is East Carolina University, which gives 24 hours of community service leave for full-time employees per year as an incentive and compensation for community service.
In addition, approximately 40% of Fortune 500 companies offer volunteer grant programs where companies provide monetary donations to nonprofit organizations in recognition of their employee's volunteerism (e.g. $500 volunteer grant after 25 hours of community service).
Religious reasons for serving
Religion is one of the greatest motivating forces behind community service. "Although beneficence and good works are also important secular goals, religion remains one of the major motivating forces behind community service." All the major religious groups emphasize values of charity, compassion, and community.
Beyond required community service, some religious groups emphasize serving one's community. These groups and churches reach out by holding Vacation Bible Schools for children, hosting Red Cross blood drives, having fall carnivals, or offering free meals. Through these services, churches are able to benefit neighborhoods and families. Some churches create non-profit organizations that can help the public. Crisis pregnancy centers are often run by religious groups to promote pro-life values in local families. To meet impoverished people's needs, some churches provide a food pantry or start a homeless shelter. Also, certain churches provide daycare so that busy parents can work.
Personal benefits of serving
Community service also allows those participating to reflect on the difference they are making in society. Some participants of a community service project may find themselves gaining a greater understanding of their roles in the community, as well as the impact of their contributions towards those in need of service. Because community service outlets vary, those who serve are exposed to many different kinds of people, environments, and situations.
A benefit of participating in community service is to gain greater experience and benefits to help individuals gain advantages for their careers. According to "The Give and Take of Volunteering: Motives, Benefits, and Personal Connections among Irish Volunteers", " Career benefits took different forms depending on the person's career stage and on the type of work involved"(McKeena). At the beginning of a profession, volunteering could be beneficial, giving people at a more practical level of hands-on experience in health and social care, while persons at a more advanced level of their careers achieved career-related benefits from high-level relationships for job-related reasons (Mckenna).
With each new community service project, some participants may gain insightful experience in a variety of areas. Participants may also internalize the information that they found personally insightful for future use. While simply performing community service is valuable to the recipients, those serving often find it beneficial to pause and reflect on how they are changing society for the better. Schools often take students on community service projects so they can learn how their individual actions affect the well-being of the public. Participants may find that serving the public fosters a more solidified view of self and purpose.
Those involved in community service learning may also find that after serving the community for an extended period of time, they have an advantage in real-world experience. Eventually, the skills and knowledge obtained while working with the community may be applied in future areas of work. Community service may also increase a participant's social connectivity. Because most community service opportunities allow others to interact and work with other individuals, this service may help volunteers network and connect with others toward a common goal.
People gain the most from their community service projects when they volunteer their time to help people that they have never interacted with before. This direct contact allows people to see life from a different perspective and reevaluate their opinions of others. Many young people who get involved in community service come out with a more well-rounded worldview.
Choosing the right strategy
Civilians have a desire and aptitude to organize themselves apart from the government to address the needs in their communities. However, making sure an effort has a positive effect on society requires clear analysis and a strategy. The analysis identifies the root causes of problems that project implementation must address. Individuals, like neighborhoods, enjoy permanent change only if it is an inner one—and the greatest form of community service is encouraging that inner change.
Abraham Kuyper advocates sphere sovereignty, which honors the independence and autonomy of the "intermediate bodies" in society, such as schools, press, business, and the arts. He champions the right of every community to operate its own organizations and manage its own groups, with the foundational belief that parents know what their child really needs, and that local people are more capable of helping fellow locals. Those who agree with his views perceive community service as a tool of empowerment that can help people achieve better employment and lifestyle, avoiding what they see as destructive decision-making for mal-established goals by poorly developed community service efforts.
Amy L. Sherman, in her book Restorers of Hope, suggests that community service planning should be made with the valuable opinion of the local residents, since they have firsthand knowledge of the inside realities of their community's current state. Making them a part of the movement, change or project creates in the members of the community a sense of belonging and hope.
A joint study suggests that a more effective approach to community service focuses on increased participation of local people in decision-making and collaborative partnerships. The goal is "a bottom-up approach in which participants become agents of change and decision making." This is accomplished through several principles: inclusion, equal partnership, transparency, sharing power, sharing responsibility, empowerment, and cooperation. Being cognizant of who is given a voice in defining the need for community service, and the ways in which these issues are approached, is one of the first steps in recognizing spaces in which participation can be increased.