NCJ Number
195850
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 29 Issue: 6 Dated: June 2002 Pages: 88,90-93,95
Date Published
June 2002
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article traces the history of juvenile boot camps throughout the country and examines issues raised by the evaluations of the effectiveness of these camps.
Abstract
Modeled after boot camps for adult offenders, the first juvenile boot camps emphasized military discipline and physical conditioning. In 1991 the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) funded the development of three boot camps designed to address the special needs and circumstances of juvenile offenders. The Office of Justice Programs' guidelines identify six key components that maximize the effectiveness of juvenile boot camp programs. These are education and job training and placement; community service; substance abuse counseling and treatment; health and mental health care; continuous, individualized case management; and intensive aftercare services that are fully integrated with the boot camp program. The applicants selected for OJJDP's three demonstration programs were in Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; and Mobile, Alabama. The National Institute of Justice sponsored a 2-year evaluation of the projects that focused on boot camp implementation and the first-year experiences of participants from April 1992 to March 1993. The demonstration programs met their most important objectives, showing that the boot camp model can be adapted to the juvenile justice system, that it can be implemented in different areas of the country, and that it can serve a range of ages. The demonstration projects showed that short-term success was possible in the residential phase. Youths improved their educational performance, physical fitness, and behavior; and most participants graduated at each site. After returning to the community, however, all three programs reported high attrition rates for noncompliance, absenteeism, and new arrests. No site graduated more than 50 percent of its aftercare participants, and half of all terminations were caused by new arrests. Abuses and lack of proven effectiveness have curtailed the growth of juvenile boot camps. Currently, there are more than 75 juvenile boot camps and military structured programs in 39 States. Some still believe that if implemented properly by trained and dedicated staff with little staff turnover, juvenile boot camps constitute a cost-effective alternative to incarceration for juveniles.