Why MARRS uses Community Service
Community service is performed as a means of “pay back” for the youth offender. Performing community service allows the youth to give back instead of take away. It is a positive and productive alternative to negative behavior. Community service exposes the youth to different people, places, activities, and experiences. The programs and sites where community service is performed have the ability to become a future investment for the youth in terms of employment, community and social involvement and outreach. The scheduling of community service is safe, age appropriate, and intentional.

Working as a Team
Community service allows the youth to work as a team. The youth see first-hand that there are consequences to their choices and behavior and soon realize that they are not the only youth who have gotten into trouble with the law and judicial systems. By choosing to participate in MARRS, the youth are given a second chance to correct their behavior through positive means. As a result of the community service, we expect to see a change in attitude. The offenders work with other youth who have committed similar offenses and often times, they rally together for a common cause for the betterment of the community. The mentoring and guidance from the staff, as well as support from the youth themselves, encourage a change in attitude and promote a sense of community. The focus is changed from “me” to “we” and is promoted through a team effort in performing community service.

Far-Reaching Impact
For the community, restitution, with the option of outreach, serves as a deterrent for the youth offender. The desire for these youth to commit future delinquent and criminal acts is hopefully reduced or eliminated. The negative element for the community is lessened and becomes. In many instances, businesses and retailers are the victims of the youth offenders through vandalism and shoplifting. For a retailer, the time spent by a retail associate attending a 1 to 1 ½ hour mediation session is far less costly than the retailer paying fees to prosecute an offender and the time he/she spends in court. As the victim, meeting face-to-face with the offender to discuss the offender’s actions, consequences, and commitment to “do the right thing,” has a far-reaching impact on the victim and ultimately on the community. For a business, investing into the life of this offender through mediation is as much community outreach and just as important as investing dollars and probably far outweighs the return that the business owner would normally receive.