NCJ Number
166092
Date Published
1997
Length
45 pages
Annotation
The juvenile shock incarceration program in Polk County (Fla.) was studied with respect to the results for the first four platoons to graduate.
Abstract
The Polk County Juvenile Boot Camp was the first in Florida to offer a three-phase integrated program consisting of a boot camp, a residential transitional phase, and an aftercare component. The analysis revealed that 71 recruits entered the camp between September 1994 and April 1995. Sixty-four graduated; two who did not graduate were removed from the program for medical or psychological problems, two escaped, and three were removed for physical confrontations with the staff. The typical graduate was a 16-year-old male. Forty-one percent of the graduates were black. The graduates averaged 8.5 delinquency cases before admission. Slightly less than half involved felonies; burglary was the most frequent specific offense. Thirty-one graduates earned high school credits. The average total length of stay was 237 days. Sixty-four percent of the graduates successfully completed aftercare. Available data indicate that 81 percent of the graduates either received a GED or continued their education after graduating. Sixty-three percent of the graduates were rearrested within 1 year of graduation. Fifty percent have subsequently been adjudicated or convicted on the new charges. These results did not differ significantly from a matched comparison group. The graduates were most likely to be rearrested for misdemeanors. The program has been modified and refined since the youth graduated. Tables, figures, footnotes, appended tables, and 6 references