CIVICS Program

About the Program

Category: Community and Economic Development (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

The County of San Diego’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) has teamed up with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department (Sheriff) to form the Community Involved Vocational Inmate Crew Service Program (CIVICS). This is a collaborative effort in which inmate participants from the East Mesa Reentry Facility learn landscaping skills that can lead to future employment. These skills coupled with their participation in core reentry training and cognitive behavioral therapy provides inmates with new tools needed to be successful in their reentry. Participants are selected for the program following an individual assessment, with input from the Sheriff’s Department Reentry Services Division. The goal is to reduce recidivism and make the community safer. Practical application of the learned skills are then applied directly to community service projects in the parks that include landscaping, trail maintenance, horticulture, habitat recovery, vegetation management and fuel reduction for fire safety. Since the inception of the CIVICS program, over 7,500 hours of community service labor has been performed in County parks. This equates to a direct cost savings of $175,000 in operational expenses and allows DPR to use those funds to provide parks and recreational programs and services to the community.