The Program

Earn & Return is a youth accountability program of the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Designed to support the principles of Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ), it provides young offenders with an opportunity to earn money through their own work to repair the harm they have caused to their crime victim and the community through paying restitution.

The Earn & Return program is accomplished in collaboration with members of the community that are interested in seeing youth recover from past mistakes, making victims whole. It is available in counties across South Carolina, the program will engage civic and community organizations, businesses, and even private individuals, who are committed to helping at-risk youth be responsible, develop a solid work ethic, and achieve success in life.

It’s Not Just About the Money... While earning money to pay restitution to victims is very important, the program has 3 other key goals:

• To hold offenders accountable for the harm they have caused to their victims, as well as their community, through service work and financial restitution.
• To build relationships with positive adults in the community who will teach youthful offenders job work skills, so that they may become productive citizens.
• To enhance community safety by helping youth realize the damage they have caused and turn their efforts to repairing the harm.

What Youth are Eligible?

DJJ youth supervised on probation or parole, juveniles under contract and Juvenile Arbitration participants are eligible for Earn & Return. Each youth is carefully selected for participation in the program by local DJJ staff and Juvenile Arbitration Directors.

How it Works

The Earn & Return program is funded by contributors who make a monetary donation of any amount, through their organization or directly to DJJ. These funds are distributed through a system of time sheets, and stipend checks are issued directly to victims of crime by the DJJ’s Fiscal Affairs Victim Restitution Program.

The selected youth perform work at local community service worksites, which provide appropriate training and supervision, and document the hours worked by the youth. The youth’s compliance with the worksite standards is monitored by local DJJ staff and Arbitration Directors.

Upon completion of the community service work and review by the referring staff, the documentation is forwarded to the Arbitration and Restitution Specialist who then forwards it to DJJ Fiscal Affairs. There the youth’s restitution account is credited based on the hours they worked at current minimum wage rate. Youth do not receive any money directly for their work.

A check for the money earned is issued on behalf of the youth participant to repay their crime victim and mailed directly to the victim, with a letter from DJJ acknowledging the donation. Where appropriate, a letter of apology from the youth may be mailed to the victim separately with the assistance of DJJ county staff.

Juveniles who participate in the Earn & Return Program also attend either a Victim Impact Class or Victim Empathy Class.