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Community based facilities that provide supervised living and support services for nonviolent offenders and released inmates who meet specified criteria. Residents may be community sentenced offenders or probation/parole violators placed in the facility for disciplinary sanctions as an alternative to incarceration, work release offenders, offenders owing restitution, offenders who need intensive programming, and/or offenders who have demonstrated positive adjustment while in an institutional setting and need additional support to ease the transition from incarceration to community living. Some facilities may target specific groups of offenders such as women with young children who may remain with their mothers for the duration of their stay while others are structured to accept multiple types of offenders. Residents may be permitted to leave for work, school, or treatment, but are otherwise restricted to the facility. Specific privileges and restrictions depend on the population served. Residence in a community based correctional facility may be imposed as a "stand alone" sentence by the courts, be a condition of supervised release for intermittent confinements or split sentences (a term of imprisonment followed by other, less restrictive sanctions), be used to tighten restrictions on offenders who have violated the conditions of their probation/parole, or provide a transitional setting for offenders selected for placement by a correctional institution at the end of their sentence. Community correctional centers may be in the community or attached to a jail or similar institution, and may be privately operated or operated by a correctional authority.

Programs that hold adult and juvenile offenders accountable for their crimes by having them spend a specified number of hours serving the community or crime victims through uncompensated work in lieu of a fine, restitution or jail. Community work service (CSW) may also be ordered as a condition of probation by the court as a sanction, or it may be stipulated as a condition of diversion. Offenders can work alone and provide service for churches, hospitals, nursing homes, cities, townships, schools, county departments and other public and nonprofit organizations; or can participate in a closely supervised work crew on projects such as picking up litter on highways or in parks. CSW is usually arranged and monitored through a corrections agency, but work assignments and supervision at the work site are normally the responsibility of a community organization such as a local volunteer center or a public agency.

Programs that oversee compliance with a court order, a condition of voluntary probation or an agreement in lieu of prosecution that an offender restore what a victim has lost (or the equivalent) as a result of a crime or act of delinquency. Staff may contact victims to determine loss amounts, investigate the offender's assets, help the victim present a restitution request to the appropriate authorities, report findings to the court, monitor payments of restitution and/or employ a variety of legally sanctioned methods (such as tax liens and judgment orders) to recover losses for victims in situations where the offender fails to make payments as agreed. In some jurisdictions, these programs collect restitution funds from offenders and make payments to the victim.

Community-based programs that provide and/or coordinate the delivery of individual, group and family counseling, training, employment assistance and other prescribed social services for individuals who have been arrested for a minor offense and directed to participate in an educational or treatment program in lieu of prosecution for the offense. In most cases, the courts suspend prosecution for a prescribed period and dismiss charges altogether against those who successfully complete the program. Included are jail diversion programs which ensure that mentally ill offenders receive treatment and support services rather than spend time in jail.

Programs that provide for the close surveillance and control of offenders released into the community but still under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system. Intensive supervision programs vary from state to state, mandate a high level of contact with correctional officers; and may involve requirements for counseling, education, drug treatment, random drug testing, community service and/or restitution; electronic monitoring and adherence to nightly curfews. Targets may include violent offenders, repeat offenders, drug offenders, sex offenders, domestic violence offenders, violent gang offenders and people who have violated the terms and conditions of their probation or parole.

Programs that provide for the formal supervision of people who have been conditionally released from jail, prison or other confinement after serving part of the term for which they were sentenced based on the judgment of a parole board that there is a reasonable probability that they will live and remain at liberty without violating the law. People who are on parole remain in the legal custody of the state and may be reincarcerated if they violate the terms of their parole order.

Programs that provide for the formal supervision of individuals who have been convicted of a crime, usually a lesser offense, and given a suspended sentence which releases them into the community under specific conditions which may include a reduced term in a correctional facility, fines, restitution to the victim, community work, counseling, "good conduct" and other stipulations.