Court-ordered community service is a form of alternative sentencing that is given instead of a jail sentence for a variety of low-level offenses. The sentence requires an individual to complete their allotted hours within a certain time span at an approved non-profit organization.

The court-ordered community service project was developed from an observed community need for a resource for individuals who have received a community service sentence. A large majority of all calls to Nevada Volunteers are regarding requests to complete court-mandated service hours. Unfortunately, prior to the work done for this project, there were only 2 or 3 known organizations that could be provided to an individual. This project was focused on contacting the current service organizations hosted on NVVolunteerConnect to locate those who could facilitate these service hours. Over 550 organizations were contacted and we gained 200 active responses, resulting in a current list of over 90 service organizations where court-mandated hours can be completed.

After these organizations were surveyed and located, the next portion of the project was to create an addition to the current NVVolunteerConnect search function to facilitate a way for individuals to find service opportunities that meet their needs, values, and allow them to complete their necessary hours. While the creation of this addition to the search function was the desired outcome of this project, another big goal was to be able to help connect people to service opportunities and create a life-long connection to service that goes beyond required hours. The work done on this project and the progress made allows both of the goals to be carried out and now provides a unique, personalized, and streamlined way to complete service hours.