News

Juvenile Court Youth Community Service Yields $3.9 Million Worth of Volunteer Services in 2012

News Article

May 22, 2013

Audio clips of the chief justice and an infographic are available on the UJS website.

In 2012, thousands of youth performed unpaid community service while under the supervision of county juvenile probation departments throughout the state, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Ronald D. Castille said today.

More than 15,700 youth worked a total of 536,808 hours, which, at the current minimum wage, represents approximately $3.9 million worth of volunteer service for communities across the Commonwealth.

When juveniles come into the justice system charged with a crime, judges have the discretion to divert them from court into these programs.

“Community service, whether court-ordered or as an alternative to formal court intervention, is another great example of an initiative where the judiciary can improve lives and save tax dollars as justice is pursued,” Chief Justice Castille said. “Not only do these youthful offenders develop valuable skills, but they are held accountable by working to repay their debt to society by providing services to nonprofit organizations and agencies and communities throughout the Commonwealth. They are learning to be responsible citizens.

“In addition to the judges, I commend the dedicated county chief juvenile probation officers and their staff who are instrumental to the success of the community service efforts.”

The community service information was compiled and analyzed by Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission from data provided by county juvenile probation departments.

The data shows:

• Twelve programs with more than 500 community service assignments/participants in 2012 including Delaware (1,781); Berks (1,350); Allegheny County’s Cornell-Abraxas Workbridge (946); Montgomery (801); Lehigh (748); Philadelphia (728); Bucks (679); Lancaster (651); Dauphin (620); York (602): Lycoming (555); and Erie (536)
• approximately 72 percent of the youth assigned community service were male
• the average ages of youth in the majority of counties was between 15 years and one month and 17 years and eight months
• the average length of assignment in 2012 was 34.1 hours

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Contact: Amy Kelchner, 717-231-3328