Community Service Initiative for Juvenile Offenders Celebrates 36 Years

BRADFORD, Pa. — If you walked along the Richard E. McDowell Community Trail this summer, you might have seen a team of young people digging trenches, cutting logs and moving them into place along the creek, all in an effort to address erosion and improve stream management.

The effort is part of McKean County Juvenile Probation’s Boondocs Program, which employs juvenile offenders to support a wide range of environmental management initiatives in the region. Participants learn job skills, earn a competitive wage and can make restitution for crimes they have committed.

The unique community service initiative, which is celebrating its 36^th anniversary in 2026, has worked with hundreds of juveniles over the years on projects throughout McKean County, including at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. These projects help the community by providing erosion and sedimentation control as well as improving habitat for aquatic life.

“Part of the juvenile probation process is to ensure offenders take accountability for their crimes,” notes John Bickford, director of juvenile probation for the county. “At the same time, we want to provide educational and training opportunities that can help set individuals up for future success. The Boondocs program allows us to accomplish both of these goals simultaneously.”

Juvenile offenders are selected by Bickford’s office to join the program, with priority given to those who owe fines or court costs. It lasts for 12 weeks and includes vocational rehabilitation classes on top of the identified community service project.

Participants generally spend eight weeks on the project working six hours a day, 30 hours per week. The work crew is supervised by two managers, generally college students who are hired for the summer. The young managers gain supervisory experience and learn more about juvenile probation operations. The effort is overseen by President Judge John H. Pavlock of the McKean County Court of Common Pleas and Juvenile Probation.

The program concludes with a celebration event, hosted on the Pitt-Bradford campus, which highlights the work of the team members and the positive environmental outcomes they have helped generate. It also provides a sense of pride and accomplishment to participants which Bickford says supports Juvenile Probation’s overall mission.

“We want to help these individuals turn their lives around and the enhanced self-esteem and positive reinforcement Boondocs provides is a key step in that process,” he adds.