The program's purpose is to encourage use of community sentences such as restitution, rehabilitative treatment, and community service. Subjects were 108 eligible, 1985-1986 felony defendants randomly assigned to an experimental (SAC) or control group. While a majority of these defendants were prison-bound, the evaluation revealed that SAC was successful in increasing diversion to community alternatives: 63 percent of the SAC defendants received either no active sentence or a sentence of 6 months or less, compared to 39 percent of the control group. Further, proportions of defendants receiving 12-, 24-, and 36-month prison sentences were lower in the SAC than in the control group. A comparison of low-risk and high-risk defendants failed to reveal any intergroup differences in sentence severity for low-risk defendants. However, high-risk SAC defendants received significantly fewer active sentences, significantly more sentences of 6 months or less, and significantly fewer sentences of 12 months or more. This latter finding suggests that the program is particularly effective for the high-risk defendants for whom it was primarily designed to serve. 2 figures, 8 tables, 24 notes, and 7 references.