Abstract
Though considered an intermediate sanction, community service is hardly ever used as such in the United States. Especially for low-level property offenders who move in and out of the system repeatedly, com munity service can be a viable and beneficial correctional option. New York City has experimented with using community service as a replace ment to jail sentences through the Community Service Sentencing Project. This paper presents evidence from research conducted at the Vera Institute of Justice that points to the value of community service for the recidivist property offender. Based upon analysis of several sets of data two main findings are discussed. First, rates of completion are favorable, in that they are consistent with the program's recent past and exceed con tractual goals despite the change to a more criminally active group of offenders under supervision. Second, representatives of community agen cies have favorable views of the offenders, the sanction, and the work performed; communities benefit from the work; and many offenders con sider the program a fair and just punishment that helps them in various ways.