NCJ Number
165625
Date Published
1997
Length
46 pages
Annotation
Juvenile boot camps are part of the broad continuum of programs operated by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, and Bay County Sheriff's Office opened the fifth boot camp in Florida.
Abstract
Between June 1994 and August 1995, 62 recruits entered Bay County's juvenile boot camp, and 59 of these recruits graduated. The typical boot camp graduate was a 16-year-old male; 49 percent of graduates were black; and graduates averaged 7.7 delinquency cases before boot camp admission, more than half of which involved felonies. The largest proportion of graduates were committed for felony property offenses, with burglary the most frequently committed offense. The average length of stay, including the time recycled to boot camp for noncompliance with aftercare rules, totaled 138 days. As a group, boot camp graduates increased approximately 1 grade 2 months in reading, 1 grade 7 months in math, and 1 grade 8 months in spelling on the Wide Range Achievement Test. Fifty-two percent of graduates successfully completed aftercare, graduates who were successfully released from aftercare averaged 5.5 months of aftercare services, and 36 percent of graduates were employed after release from boot camp. Of the 59 graduates, 64 percent were rearrested within 1 year of graduation and 49 percent were subsequently re-adjudicated or convicted on new charges. Boot camp graduates were most likely to be rearrested for felony property crimes. Most youths were first rearrested within 3 months of graduation. Supplemental data on juvenile offenses and demographic characteristics and placement histories of boot camp graduates are appended. 5 references, 21 tables, and 5 figures