Community Work Program (CWP)

The CWP is an alternative to incarceration program that substitutes community labor, rather than incarceration, for carefully selected offenders. The Work Program provides service to local municipalities and other non-profit organizations throughout Washtenaw County.

Work Tasks

Individuals sentenced to the CWP engage in a variety of tasks that directly contribute to the community in various ways. Tasks include by way of example but not limitation:

• Roadway trash pickup
• Snow shoveling for the disabled and/or elderly
• General labor
• Food pantry grocery giveaways
• Community event preparation and clean up
• Blight cleanup
• Painting
• Fairgrounds clean up
• Festival set up/clean up
• Youth camp clean up
• Non-profit organization assistance, etc.
• Minimal landscaping

Benefits

• The CWP provides an opportunity for the selected offenders to take responsibility for their actions and contribute their time and effort directly back to the communities that they may have harmed, while retaining their employment and maintaining their family relationships; keys to not re-offending.
• The CWP has and continues to provide significant direct savings to the county by decreasing jail bed days served and reducing or eliminating the cost of public service projects many of which, due to limited resources, might not otherwise be completed. 

Snow Removal

The Sheriff Community Work Program also participates in a program that offers snow removal for seniors and people with disabilities. Every year the Work Program assists in clearing snow for approximately 170 households throughout the county. If you are interested in receiving assistance with snow removal from the Community Work Program please call 734-973-4867.

Community Garden

In 2017, the CWP created a community garden and grew 800 pounds of fresh produce and delivered it to a number of local area food banks.