NCJ Number
132650
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 53 Issue: 6 Dated: (October 1991) Pages: 98,100-101
Date Published
1991
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Georgia's expanded boot-camp program with its unique 5-tiered approach is intended to relieve prison crowding and reduce recidivism among young offenders.
Abstract
Georgia's boot-camp expansion program will increase the number of beds from 500 at 3 institutions to 3,044 at 13 institutions by the summer of 1992. The expanded program is designed to remove less serious offenders from prisons to provide more space for serious offenders. The program intends to free up enough prison space for serious offenders so they can serve a minimum of one-third of their sentences before being eligible for parole. A key element in the new comprehensive boot-camp program that was lacking in the previous program is substance abuse treatment and counseling. A 5-tiered approach to behavioral management under the boot-camp program distinguishes Georgia's program from that of other States. The five tiers are probation detention centers (PDC's) which are designed to rehabilitate low-risk offenders; probation boot camps which are for offenders who need more attention than is provided in PDC's; inmate boot camps which are for potential parolees; intensive discipline program units which provide disciplinary isolation for serious offenders already in prison; and intensive followup which involves continuing close supervision in the community for 90 days.