Hennepin County adds alternative community service for women

Thousands of criminal offenders have turned to community service to work off a fine or jail time, from picking up trash on the highway to mowing parks.

But when Hennepin County probation officers noticed that the labor-intensive full-day jobs weren’t an option for young mothers and women who were pregnant or disabled, they launched an alternative community service program.

The program, now in its third year, gives female offenders a different option: Working afternoons two times a month to make recycled jewelry for Minneapolis nonprofit Grandmother Circles, which sends jewelry sales proceeds to Kenyan women.

http://www.startribune.com/hennepin-county-adds-alternative-community-service-for-women/405714746/