NCJ Number
99388
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1985) Pages: 23-29
Date Published
1985
Length
7 pages
Annotation
These guidelines for the implementation of criminal justice volunteer programs identify common objections to the use of criminal justice volunteers and propose strategies for developing effective volunteer programs.
Abstract
After explaining the benefits of volunteers, this article lists and briefly describes volunteer job titles: direct service, supervision; direct service, treatment; direct service, advocate; and administrator. After identifying and countering some of the negative stereotypes of volunteers, the attributes of typical volunteers are listed. Administrative factors that contribute to the failure and success of volunteer programs are considered, followed by an examination of the dynamics of staff-volunteer interaction. Methods of recruiting volunteers are described, and approaches for volunteer orientation and training are summarized. Other sections of this article focus on matching the volunteer to the client, retaining volunteers, and evaluating volunteer programs. The discussion of the latter topic addresses the findings of studies that have evaluated the effectiveness of one-to-one direct service volunteer programs. Forty-six notes are listed.