For information on specific volunteer opportunities, please contact our Volunteer Services Office at (803) 896-9583.
Be a Mentor -- Mentors serve as positive role models for youth and encourage their success through this one-on-one visitation program. Volunteers can commit as little time as one hour every two weeks with a young person to help make a difference in his or her life with friendship and guidance. Days and times are flexible.
Tutor a Child -- Volunteers offer academic help to juveniles who are at risk of failing school. Tutors for all levels and subjects are needed both inside the classroom to supplement the education staff, as well as after school hours. Days and times are flexible.
Volunteer to be a Probation Officer -- DJJ's Auxiliary Probation Officers (APO's) provide one-on-one intensive probation services to juveniles and their families in their local community. Extensive training is required. APOs are trained and sworn in as officials of the court with full probation officer authority. An APO is assigned to a juvenile and is required to contact him or her by telephone at least three times per week, and to provide at least one face-to-face visit per week. Call to find out if there is an APO program in your county. A link to DJJ County Offices and phone numbers is available by clicking here.
Teen After School Center (TASC) Volunteer– Statistics show that most teen crimes are committed between the hours of 3:00 and 7:00 pm. Mentors, tutors, and facility aides are needed in each TASC. DJJ has a number of TASC sites across the State. Contact your local DJJ County Office to learn more about a local TASC.
Play a significant role in the lives of minor offenders in your local community by providing contact to these youth and helping to ensure they do not re-offend and further penetrate the juvenile justice system. You will serve in the local county DJJ office several hours twice a month. Please see the Volunteers in Probation Fact Sheet.
Provide Spiritual Guidance -- Religious volunteers and groups can offer spiritual development to juveniles who are seeking direction and moral guidance. These volunteers are particularly important to the long-term residential facility in Columbia, the Evaluation and Detention Centers. DJJ also welcomes partnerships with religious organizations and churches, such as the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.
Work with a DJJ Intramural Team or as a Recreation Volunteer -- This is a fun way to get to know young people, while helping them to develop self-confidence, motivation, and teamwork skills. By playing a game of basketball, volleyball, or checkers with a juvenile for as little as one hour every two weeks, you can help to brighten a young person's life. Also, our Intramural Sports Program is always looking for coaches and referees. Days and times are flexible.
Serve as Interns -- College students seeking practical experience while earning academic credit are welcomed in DJJ from many disciplines, including criminal justice, social work, psychology, education, physical education, and others. Most DJJ intern programs require interns to work during office hours, which are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Please call to find out if there is an internship space available in the county you are most interested in doing an internship. A link to County Offices and phone #s is available by clicking here. If you wish to acquire an internship at the Broad River Road Complex or the Midlands Detention Center in Columbia, SC, please contact the Volunteer Services Office at 803-896-9400.
Offer Office, Professional, and Administrative Support -- Many offices at DJJ need volunteer support to help ease workloads. You can help to benefit juveniles simply by offering secretarial, data entry, professional, or general office support.
Make Donations -- In tough fiscal times, DJJ needs community support to sustain quality youth-serving programs. Donations may be monetary or in-kind, such as school supplies, barber services, donation of furniture, etc. Some volunteers even help locate grant funding sources at the local, state or national levels to help augment DJJ's budget. Please contact the Volunteer Services Office at 803-896-9583 concerning donations.
Steps to becoming a volunteer – Complete both the DJJ Volunteer Application and the Department of Social Services (DSS) Consent to Release Information Form 3072 that are located below for download.
DJJ Volunteer Application – Carefully complete the application. If you want to volunteer in a county office, please contact that office to set an interview. The county office staff member will sign your application form and take a digital picture to submit with your application. If you want to volunteer at the Broad River Road Complex (BRRC) in Columbia or the Detention or Evaluation Centers please call 896-9451 for instructions regarding signatures of DJJ staff, submitting forms and digital picture.
Department of Social Services(DSS) Form 3072 – Complete only the middle section of this form that asks about “place of birth”. No check fee is charged; however DJJ must submit the DSS form through the Volunteer Services Office. Please do not mail form to DSS nor send a check. Your signature and a witness to your signature are required.
NOTE: The DJJ Volunteer Application, the DSS Form 3072 and a color photo (preferably a digital picture) are required as a complete volunteer application package.
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