PROBATION
Community Based Services (C.B.S.)
C.B.S. utilizes an array of community resources in providing services to our youth. College students, volunteers, private businesses, service clubs, churches, and collaboration with other youth serving agencies are instrumental to our efforts in improving the lives of the youth and families we serve.
C.B.S. provides casework, work therapy, group-centered activities, job placement, and recreational programming. C.B.S. provides more intensive supervision because of smaller caseloads limited to 25 clients per Probation Officer. A work group is typically 3 to 5 youth. These work groups are involved in labor or therapeutic activity for approximately 3 to 4 hours a day for which a youth receives a small stipend if his/her behavior is appropriate. These groups occur from 8:30a.m. to 8:30p.m. Monday thru Friday and 8:30a.m to 4:30p.m. on Saturday.
Examples of these groups are as follows: feeding the homeless, working with animals, landscaping, playing bingo with nursing home patients, interacting with the mentally challenged individuals, and delivering furniture to the needy. Youth are also provided a meal on each group. Independent work sites are places where C.B.S. youth are supervised by staff of a collaborating agency, which may include but are not limited to recreation centers and nursing homes. The money for the small stipend and food are charitable donations from the Building Bridges Inc. C.B.S. operates approximately 30 work groups per week.
