Volunteer Program

Program participants participate in a variety of activities that are countable in the federal participation rate while searching for employment. Time spent in activities is documented for meeting accountability requirements and must be highly structured and monitored. Recipients of TANF services are to be engaged in the following activities as a means to develop work experiences or unsubsidized employment that leads to a livable wage. Allowed activities include: Work Experience, Community Service, Vocational Education Training, Job Search and Job Readiness Activities, Job Skills Training and Adult Basic Education directly related to employment. The client will continue to participate in these activities until independent employment is obtained, or until it is determined that participation is no longer an appropriate activity for the participant. Program documentation must be provided at the time of application.

Education institutions establish certain community service requirements for graduation or as part of a disciplinary program. Students are asked to provide the program requirements at the time of application. If you are under 18 years of age, please reach out directly to your local retail store for more information on how to get involved!

Community service is a sanction that the court can impose as a condition of probation, conditional discharge, or supervision. The court imposes this sanction for varied purposes, such as a form of restoration/reparation and as an opportunity for rehabilitation.

The Social Service Department has developed a Community Service Program to provide the court with an alternative to incarceration and to achieve the Illinois Constitution’s objective of this court-imposed penalty, which is to restore the offender to useful citizenship. The Social Service Department’s Community Service Program has the following goals:

• to offer the court an alternative sanction for offenders placed on supervision or sentenced to conditional discharge;
• to offer not-for-profit organizations the opportunity to utilize the services of offenders ordered to perform community service;
• to require offenders to participate in a form of reparation to the community; and
• to require offenders, through community service work, to perform productive and lawful activities.

As a component of a comprehensive intervention, community service often builds better community relations. Community organizations experience “criminals” as real people with human struggles. The offender experiences, sometimes for the first time, the intrinsic rewards of productive labor and the sense of belonging based on the principles of accountability and restitution. Offenders also come to the understanding that there are consequences for unlawful behavior.

In fulfilling the department’s mandate to direct offenders toward compliance with their court orders, caseworkers use a process of assessment to provide and facilitate correctional interventions and treatment appropriate to the charge and situation of each offender. Efforts are made to match the degree and level of services to the offender’s risk of recidivism.

The Social Service Department has developed a network of hundreds of not-for-profit organizations throughout Illinois that participate in the program. LLGI requires applicants to provide the court order documentation at the time of application.

At times, members of the community will request to volunteer as part of their personal or organizational philanthropy beliefs. These individuals are not required to provide any documentation during the application process. If you are under the age of 18, please reach out directly to your local retail store for more information on how to get involved.