News  Community Service Conducts Statewide Earth Day Clean-Up

The Massachusetts Trial Court Community Service Program will send crews of probationers to nearly a dozen sites in 10 counties statewide where they will beautify and clean-up public spaces as part of Probation’s Earth Day clean-up on Saturday, April 22nd. This Earth Day statewide cleaning and beautification effort by Community Service is the first since the Pandemic.

The Earth Day projects will extend from the Berkshires to Barnstable County. Included among the Earth Day projects are the planting of 100 trees, weeding and clean-up of little league baseball fields; debris removal along beaches, river banks, park trails and pathways; as well as the removal and disposal of old paint cans.

Prior to the Pandemic, probationers typically performed approximately 300,000 community service hours or more statewide throughout the year. This work is performed in lieu of paying court fees. The Community Service Program is part of Probation’s Office of Community Corrections which includes 18 community corrections centers statewide.

The justice-involved clients are transported from the centers or courts to the project sites where they perform a range of tasks — both traditional and non-traditional. This work has included trash pick-up along streets and highways; set-up of classrooms for the school year by moving furniture and painting walls; building cages for oyster seeds at state fisheries; pick-up and delivery of food from restaurants and college cafeterias for distribution to homeless shelters and halfway houses; stocking and distributing food at local soup kitchens; and setting up 1,000’s of chairs and tables for community concerts and events. This work has also led to full-time employment for many offenders.

The work performed by Probation is an example of restorative justice which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with the community at large, according to Dianne Fasano, acting Probation Commissioner.

"This work enhances communities and enables offenders to give back in a positive way," said Ms. Fasano.

"Community service delivers valuable service to our neighboring and non-profit communities while fostering a sense of achievement for our participants," said Community Service Statewide Supervisor David Skocik.

Earth Day was first introduced in the Spring of 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson, according to EarthDay.org. It was at this time that 20 million individuals — at the time 10 percent of the population — mobilized in cities across the country to call for greater protection for the planet. Six months later in December 1970, Congress authorized the creation of a new federal agency to tackle environmental issues, the US Environmental Protection Agency.