Community Service Procedure

This page details how to determine whether a prospective COURT ORDERED community service volunteer should be allowed to spend time at Free Geek. This does NOT apply to students doing community service for school. Students are regular volunteers whose hours we mark as "school". These instructions are intended to aid those at the front desk when faced with a person who needs to complete court ordered community service hours and would like to do so at Free Geek.

The HR committee is who you should point questions to.

General Goals

Free Geek is a good place for people to gain job skills, contribute to their local community, meet positive people, and possibly turn their lives around. While part of our goal is to provide opportunities for empowerment and growth, we also want to protect our volunteers. We welcome people who need to complete community service, as long as they are legally able to be around children AND do not have any restraining orders against them. We do not discriminate against court appointed community service workers. We expect ALL Free Geek volunteers to legally be able to be around children and not have a restraining order against them. These questions are now asked of everyone who would like to volunteer with us.

The Basics for All Court Community Service Volunteers

Give a copy of the Community Service Information Sheet to ALL volunteers inquiring about doing Court Community Service with us. Invite them to connect with Valerie during Community Service drop-in hours: after the Wednesday noon tour or after the Saturday 5:00 p.m. tour.

Community Service volunteers are responsible for bringing their court order, referral form, community service agreement or program agreement to the Free Geek CS liaison.

Community Service FAQ

May I earn a free computer?
- Yes, but only AFTER you have completed your community service hours for the courts. Court community service hours do NOT count toward earning a computer.

How do I record my hours?
- It is your responsibility to accurately report your hours to the front desk at the end of each shift you work and indicate they are for COURT. You can also tell the Volunteer Desk these are "CS" hours or "Community Service" hours. You may ask how many hours you have at any time.

I'm already a volunteer. Can I use the hours I've already earned for court?
- Unfortunately, the courts will not accept hours earned previous to the date your community service was assigned to you. You may only count hours toward court AFTER:

You have notified the front desk you are doing community service, AND
You have spoken to Valerie and given her a copy of your court order or referral paper.

When I've finished my hours, how do I turn them in to the court?
- It is YOUR responsibility to ensure you get your hours turned in on time. Contact Valerie 2 business days (Tuesday through Saturday) before your hours are due:
  - Multnomah County Court volunteers: After hearing from you, Valerie will set a time to meet with you, print out your hours and affix and fill out a sticker, required by the county. You must pick up these hours in person and deliver them to court by your deadline.
  - Washington County Court volunteers: After hearing from you, Valerie will fill out and fax your form to Washington County. Be sure and tell us to do so BEFORE your deadline.

Staff Procedure

For All Courts

Give a copy of the Community Service Info Sheet to ALL volunteers inquiring about doing Court Community Service with us. Then connect them with Valerie.
After screening, enter the following data in the "Notes" field of the database, for each court community service worker:

Note hours are for COURT
County (& State, if not Oregon)
Date they started earning hours for court (very important for previous volunteers now doing court hours)
Number of hours required
Deadline
Anything noteworthy - special instructions, limited areas they can work, etc.
Today's Date (should be the same as their start date)
Your initials

Ex. COURT hours for Multnomah County. 60 due by 12.31.09. Seated tasks only. 10.23.09 MKW

Multnomah County

Contacts: Karen Clark @ 503.988.4993 or Donica @ 503.988.3007, ext 27025. Other contact might be a specific judge or parole officer (PO).
When hours are complete:
- Complete the County-specific timesheet that was sent directly to Free Geek and fax it back.
- If the community service volunteer is here through the Community Court Agency Placement (Judge Evans / Karen Clark), then print out a list of hours from the database, ensure court hours are marked as "court" and place a Multnomah county sticker on the list.
- Note in database: 1) that hours are complete, and 2) date volunteer may begin earning a computer.

Washington County

Contacts: Bernadine Evenson or Roxanne Wood.
- Bernadine and Roxanne send the referral forms (time sheets) directly to Free Geek. These referral forms are not to be given to the volunteer. We fax the referral form back to Washington County directly.
When volunteer signs up for court mandated community service:
- Check the Community Service file for the referral form with their name on it
- Obtain papers from the community service volunteer
- If we do not have a referral form with the volunteer's name on it, the volunteer is responsible for having Washington County fax, mail or email the referral form to Free Geek
When hours are complete:
- Verify all are complete in database & marked as court
- Complete form and fax to Washington county
- Wait for fax report and staple to paperwork as proof of date sent
- File paperwork
- Note in database: 1) that hours are complete, and 2) date volunteer may begin earning a computer

Other Courts

FYI: It is not FG's job to write letters or take on extra work due to unique court requirements.

Treat this as case by case, it is up to you to accommodate and work with other courts.
Meet with these volunteers to find out what is required of them, and of us.
Many other courts request a letter detailing proof of volunteering with us, on our letterhead. If you chose to work with them:
- Ask the volunteer to craft the contents of this letter, including all necessary components for the court
- You then transfer it to our letterhead and sign.
- Volunteers from Other Courts are responsible for preparing (with your help) and delivering their paperwork
When hours are complete:
- Verify all are complete in database & marked as court
- Provide necessary documents to volunteer for them to deliver
- Note in database: 1) that hours are complete, and 2) date volunteer may begin earning a computer.

Court Volunteer's Responsibilities

Notify Front Desk you are here for Community Service
Connect with the Free Geek Community Service liaison (Valerie) during Community Service drop-in hours
Provide the Free Geek liaison with the court order, referral form, or program agreement
Take an Orientation tour
Sign up for shifts. If they are on a tight deadline, encourage them toward Adoption versus Build
Log their hours accurately at the end of each shift at front desk and tell us they are for "court" (or Community Service or "CS")
Notify Valerie at least 2 business days (Tuesday through Saturday) before their hours are due

Front Desk's Responsibilities

Read all NOTES sections before entering hours.
Mark all court community service hours ("CS" hours) as COURT in the database.
Ensure accurate data entry. Repeat back to the volunteer the amount of hours you are entering, for confirmation.
Be sure to hit "Save" so the hours are logged.