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The
community is improved, the agencies using the Work Crew save money, and the
offenders gain job skills. One
of the program's goals is to help offenders learn new skills so they can get
in a line of work and break the chain that keeps them in the criminal
justice system. Many offenders
don't even have basic life skills, such as setting an alarm clock, dressing
for the job, and using appropriate language.
Work
Crew participants find that participating in Work Crew is rewarding and an
effective way of being responsible for the fines and/or jail sentence they
owe.
One
participant said, “I consider Work Crew a privilege and opportunity to
work off fines.” Another
stated that he would recommend Work Crew to others because, “it may give
some people an opportunity to learn work ethics, possibly for the first
time.”
Offenders
are assigned to a crew and are supervised by a Work Crew Supervisor.
The crew of six to eight people includes men and women, many of whom
request the assignment because they prefer outdoor work.
Worksites include non-profit organizations, many of which have a
minimal amount of funding. Work includes cleaning and fixing up local roads and parks,
picking up litter and earning rave reviews from the agencies that contract
for its services.
"I
have been very impressed with the County Work Crew's willingness to take on
some not fun jobs -- such as clearing out garbage and junk from abandoned
vehicles -- on fairly short notice," said Cindy Lopez, Longview Police
Department
community service officer. "It's good to know we can rely on the County
Work Crew to help us do our jobs. We really appreciate the service the Work
Crew provides to Longview Police Dept."
"The Work Crew proves invaluable in our
grounds work at the School District. They
can accomplish in one day what would take us a week to do," said Lynn
Axtell, Kalama School District.
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