The Marshall Canyon (Tree Farm) Work Release and Community Service program is an option offered to individuals in lieu of paying court ordered fines. Contracts have been negotiated and executed not only with the courts but with outside referral agencies which prospective service workers contact to obtain a list of agencies offering community-based work release programs. The Community Service Agency, Volunteer Center of San Gabriel Valley, La Mirada Volunteer Center, Volunteer Center of South Bay, County of Los Angeles Probation Department, and Sheriff Department have partnered with our program, supplying us with community service workers throughout the years.
Our programs focus is two-fold. We want to provide a well-structured and organized environment that allows workers to perform their community service hours, while ensuring the needs of the service are met in the areas of grounds maintenance, weed abatement, graffiti removal, homeless encampment cleanups, and other important assignments.
Finances play a large and important role in the execution of the program. While engaging in difficult projects such as the cleanup of homeless encampments or annual weed eradication, monetary resources are constrained and often allocated towards other projects. Most of our workforce comes from Crew Instructors and the Community Service clients/volunteers. The team plans ahead on all assignments ensuring safety is always a priority. During the homeless camp removal project, our LA County Sheriffs Park Bureau Units presence served as the frontline law enforcement agency. The Parks Bureau has always been a wonderful resource for our department over the years and is very strategic in the performance of their duties.
The Marshall Canyon (Tree Farm) Work Release and Community Service program has a major role in performing department-wide mandatory weed eradication throughout the County of Los Angeles. This is a very arduous task which requires collaboration between multiple groups of personnel to adequately complete the work within specified timeframes. Tree Farm staff works primarily with LA County Parks Regional Transportation and the Heavy Equipment Division to accomplish the abatement. The Chemical Agriculture Chemical Sprayers also treat larger areas of weeds and vegetation with certified chemicals to alleviate foliated growth.
Once the work has been completed in compliance with the County of Los Angles Agriculture Commissioner Weights & Measures, the department can save upwards of $300,000 annually. If this work was not performed by Tree Farm Work Crews, the department would need to augment their budget to pay through Department Service Orders (DSOs). |