Christian, Dallas, Greene, Laclede,
Stone, Taney & Webster Counties

Community Alternative Sentencing Program
Contact: Ms. Terri Perry
721 North Main
Springfield, MO 65802
Tel: 417-865-9460
Fax: 417-865-6155

In 1985, a group of concerned community leaders came together to discuss an innovative way of dealing with misdemeanor, traffic, stealing and other types of crimes within Greene County and the City of Springfield.

This group, led by Judge J. Miles Sweeney, discussed alternatives to sending offenders to jail by providing options for them to do service work at community non-profit agencies.   This work termed “community service” was designed to be a way for the offender to offer restitution to the community for their crimes.   Although this was not a new idea to law enforcement, many of the operational programs at that time were funded through state funds. It was the mission of this group of community leaders to develop a program that would not incur an additional cost to taxpayers, but have the offender pay to do their community service, therefore allowing the agency to become self-sufficient.

Through community collaboration with the court system, community and governmental agencies, the organization Community Alternative Service Program (CASP) was developed.   The agency opened its doors on August 12, 1985 and has continued to grow over the last twenty years.

In the first year of operation, CASP received 185 referrals and those clients worked a total of 5,260 hours in community non-profit organizations.   In 2004, the over 4,000 clients completed a total of 174,000 hours of community service.   If a value of minimum wage ($5.15) were applied to these hours, the economic impact would be $896,100.00.

Throughout the some twenty years of operation, the organization has worked with the court system to develop a comprehensive data base for tracking clients and reporting on the hours served.   In addition, many of the non-profit agencies have come to structure special programs where CASP workers can be utilized.

When it first began, the program had a focus of dealing with only adult offenders.   However, the expansion and evolution of the program now includes juvenile intervention services as well as specialized traffic programs.   Listed below are the programs currently offered to offenders in the communities surrounding Greene County :

• Community Service Placement:   CASP makes work assignments to area non-profit, charitable, or governmental agencies.   Prior to placement, CASP completes a comprehensive criminal record check on each client and checks their name against the sexual predator registry list for each state where the client has lived.   The placement in an organization is based upon the client’s criminal history, their skills, the hours to be worked, the area in which the person lives, availability of the worker and the acceptance of the worker by the agency.
  
• Juvenile Intervention Work Crew:   CASP has developed a specialized juvenile work crew program where youth are referred by the following sources to do community service for crimes:  
  • Teen Court
  • Juvenile Judge
  • Probation
  • Juvenile Officer

• Probation Services:   CASP supervises misdemeanor probationers for area courts.   CASP monitors the probationers for the term of their probation and reports to the Court their compliance or non-compliance of the Court’s conditions of probation.

• Speeder’s Payback Program:   CASP offers a program focusing on first-time traffic violators, which is 12 hours of community service within 60 days.  

As indicated, CASP is self-supporting and all fees are paid by the clients.   Each of the above programs has specific fees associated with them.   Fees must be paid prior to the client being able to participate.   It is important to note that in the beginning for community service a client was charged $60.   That fee has increased to only $100 for the same hours in 2005.   However, a sliding scale and also a fee reduction program have been implemented for clients who do not have funds to pay for the program. Every effort is made to work with the client to see that they successfully complete the program.

Once a client is assigned to CASP, they must follow this procedure:

• Register for the program and provide identification which includes their picture (within 5 days of judgment).
• Pay their fee which is based upon the program to which they were assigned and number of hours to be served (within 60 days of judgment).
• Schedule and work their hours.
• Turn in their time card.

When the client is scheduled to work at a non-profit organization, an “agency timesheet” is faxed to that agency indicating the date and number of hours to be worked by the client.   They then return that form to CASP once the client has completed their hours.   This timesheet is used to verify hours worked.   Non-profit agencies are trained on paperwork completion as well as the procedures for supervision.   When the client has completed all of their hours, a form letter is sent to the court indicating that they have successfully completed the program.   Likewise, if the client does not complete the program, a letter of failure is sent to the court and a CASP representative will appear in court to verify the failure.

CASP not only operates in Greene County, but also other counties which assign community service work.   In addition, through a comprehensive network of other community service organizations and non-profit agencies, CASP is able to schedule anyone throughout the United States.   Workers have also been scheduled through CASP in Australia.

The success and evolution of CASP can be attributed to the continued collaborative efforts of the Springfield Area Council of Churches, Greene County Circuit Courts, Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Greene County Public Defender’s Office,   Greene County Bar Association -- Criminal Defense Bar, Missouri Probation and Parole, Springfield Municipal Court and   to the over 700 agencies who accept community service workers.   In addition, the Board of Directors for CASP widely represents the community and works in a diligent manner to make sure that the agency runs in the most efficient and comprehensive way possible to ensure the safety to the agencies and clients.