Juvenile Probation's community service activity was greatly enhanced in the summer of 1997 with the establishment of the Victims and Community Services Unit (VACS Unit). State funding for the unit became available after the Juvenile Act of Pennsylvania was changed to make restoring victims and communities a primary goal of the Juvenile Justice System. The new Balanced and Restorative Justice Model of Juvenile Justice in Pennsylvania pursues three major goals: public safety, juvenile competency development, and accountability of juveniles to the victim and the community affected by the crime. The VACS Unit, whose mission is to organize and manage community service work, currently receives over 100 community service orders each month, each involving 50 or more hours of community service.

Juveniles and staff of the Victim and Community Services Unit have participated in numerous community cleanups in partnership with the Department of Recreation, the School District, the Fairmount Park Commission, the Zoo, Habitat for Humanity, civic associations, and others. The program is also a part of the Philadelphia Promise program, the follow-up project to the 1997 President's Summit on juvenile service.

On Martin Luther King Day the Unit helped organize 120 people in a cleanup of the Waterview Recreation Center in Germantown. Juvenile probationers were joined by probation officers and administrators; staff and students from St. Gabriel's Hall, Friends Select, and Germantown Friends; and others from the community in cleaning and painting at the site. Working alongside probation officers and volunteers, the youths helped the community and saw themselves as part of the solution rather than the problem.

For more information on community service work, call Project Director Tom Quinn at 686-4092.