You asked (1) why juvenile boot camps were eliminated in Connecticut and (2) if they are being successfully used in any other states.

SUMMARY

Boot camp legislation was originally passed in Connecticut in 1989. A structure was designed to serve as a boot camp at the correctional facility in Cheshire, but the camp was never operational apparently due to lack of support by the correction commissioner and lack of funding. A 2003 public act repealed the law authorizing courts to sentence young men convicted of less serious offenses to a special boot camp-type Correction Department housing unit (PA 03-48). According to written testimony submitted by Theresa Lantz, Commissioner of the Department of Correction, the legislation that authorized boot camps was never funded or implemented because it “was determined to have no penalogical benefits from a recidivism prospective…” She supported the legislation to eliminate authorization for boot camps. Neither the House nor Senate debate specified the reasons for the repeal.

The first juvenile boot camp appeared in 1985 in Orleans Parish, Louisiana. Georgia, Ohio, and West Virginia, soon followed. The states designed these camps for youths who had committed moderately serious crimes, such as car theft.

Juvenile boot camps tend to model the boot camp training that military recruits receive. Typically, juveniles enter in groups. Often the camps require them to wear uniforms, march to activities, and respond rapidly to commands. The camps have a paramilitary style, which includes a highly regimented schedule of discipline, physical training, work, drill, and ceremony characteristic of military basic training.

They often also provide regular, remedial, special, and vocational education; counseling; substance abuse treatment; and treatment for health and mental health problems. Typically, boot camps have highly structured days of up to 16 hours to keep the juveniles busy.

The length of stay varies. Some stays are as few as 30 days. But more commonly camps require a 90-day stay. Still others have a 180-day requirement and others require a stay of up to 300 days.

Supporters claim that boot camps help juveniles to grow and change in positive ways. They argue that juveniles get far more educational opportunities, counseling, and treatment than they would have received in traditional detention. They also claim that the structure and control boot camps exert make participants safer from fights and victimization from other inmates. They also argue that boot camps build camaraderie with other juveniles, respect for the instructors, and improved stamina and health for the juveniles. Supporters also contend that boot camps help to alleviate overcrowding and are a cheaper alternative than prison.

Boot camps for juveniles have come under increasing attack in recent years. Critics challenge their confrontational atmosphere. They say this is exactly the opposite of the type of positive relationships and supportive atmosphere juveniles need to grow and develop into law-abiding adults. They point to injuries, mistreatment, and abuse caused by boot camp staff members.

Critics also argue that the emphasis on group activities is ineffective in addressing the individual problems the juveniles face. They claim boot camps may actually make it harder for juveniles to adjust when they return to their old neighborhoods. They point to studies showing no difference in recidivism rates compared with juveniles who were sentenced to traditional detention.

Critics also challenge the view that boot camp is cheaper than more conventional detention. They claim that any savings are attributable to shorter detention periods. Since there appears to be no advantage from a recidivism stand-point, they claim equal savings could be achieved by shortened conventional sentences.

We have relied on two lengthy U. S. Department of Justice studies. One is a 1997 study entitled “Boot Camps for Juvenile Offenders. ” The other is a 1996 study entitled "Boot Camps for Juvenile Offenders: An Implementation Evaluation of Three Demonstration Programs. " We mention some of the studies’ highlights below.

DEFINITION OF BOOT CAMP

Dr. MacKenzie, a national expert on boot camps for juveniles who has studied them since 1987, found that boot camps vary widely, especially regarding the amount of time juveniles spend in educational and therapeutic activities and in the aftercare they receive.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in the U. S. Justice Department in 1995 concluded that boot camps have the following elements:

OJJDP has also identified six key components to 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.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE STUDIES

The notion of developing boot camps for juvenile offenders evolved as the juvenile system faced the same pressures as the adult system -- an increasingly expensive and overburdened prison system, high rates of recidivism, public concern for safety, and an increasing emphasis on punishment over rehabilitation. Juveniles in custody for delinquent offenses increased 35% from 1978 to 1989, a period when the youth population of the United States declined by 11%.

In this context, the OJJDP began a demonstration program to examine the feasibility, appropriateness, and promise of the boot camp model for juvenile offenders. It selected three sites to explore whether boot camp programs for adult offenders could be adapted for male juvenile offenders: Cleveland, Ohio; Mobile, Alabama; and Denver, Colorado.

OJJDP found significant improvement in test scores for reading, spelling, math, and language for the boot camp participants. The study also found improvement in physical fitness, attitudes, and values. The attitudes and values included: respect for authority, self-discipline and control, responsibility, integrity, teamwork, personal appearance and bearing, social behavior, and work ethic. But, since there was no control group the study could not conclude boot camp was better than other institutional confinement in these areas.

CRITICISMS OF JUVENILE BOOTCAMPS

Boot camps for juveniles have been attacked by some public officials and journalists for two primary reasons: mistreatment of juveniles by employees and disappointing recidivism rates.

Clarence Page in a Chicago Tribune (12/9/99) column wrote of several incidents involving alleged mistreatment of boot camp prisoners. One involved the death of a 14 year-old girl sent to a South Dakota boot camp for shoplifting. She died after a forced long-distance run two days after she entered the program. Another involved a 16 year-old California boy who died while being punished in a boot camp. His crime was stealing a car and then escaping from custody. Another example involved a 15-year-old who spent six years in the hospital after collapsing with heat stroke.

These types of allegations have caused some states to reconsider boot camps for juveniles. For example, Maryland shut down its boot camps for juvenile offenders in December of 1999. Maryland's governor suspended the paramilitary methods and trappings at Maryland' three camps and removed five top juvenile justice officials after an investigation concluded there was a pattern of guards abusing juveniles. The state also suspended 14 camp guards. Problems included the lack of on-site monitors of the guard’s behavior; boot camp supervisors who sometimes used excessive force against abrasive prisoners; the tendency to send tougher and tougher juveniles to the camps; and insufficient mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, and after-care.

In 1998, the Justice Department investigated a boot camp in Tallulah, Louisiana after juveniles complained they were forced to exercise in steam-filled, 80-degree barracks while wearing winter clothing. Some reported vomiting or collapsing. In Mobile, Alabama, a camp was closed for three months after allegations of abuse by staff.

According to a New York Times article, in late 1999, Georgia also began phasing out its five boot camps. Based on a year-long Justice Department study of three juvenile boot camps in Georgia the U. S. Department of Justice concluded the paramilitary boot camp model is ineffective and harmful to youths.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Bill Lam Lee said federal investigators found that (1) guards routinely used extreme forms of corporal punishment resulting in serious injuries to youths; (2) mentally ill and disabled youths received inadequate care and services; (3) inadequate screening allowed youths with injuries or serious medical conditions to be admitted to the program; and (4) younger children who had difficulty understanding boot camp commands were being psychologically and physically harmed.

A New York Times article reported that Colorado, North Dakota, and Arizona have also dropped their programs, while Florida and California are scaling theirs back.

REFERRALS: CAICA is not a referral agency. CAICA does not refer to or promote facilities or transport companies for children or teens. CAICA warns parents that the parent pay / parent choice programs ie. Residential Treatment Centers, Therapeutic Boarding Schools, Behavior Modification Programs, Christian Programs, Positive Peer Culture Programs, etc., are not regulated by the Federal Government and that it is a "Buyer Beware" industry. CAICA provides the following for parents: Message to Parents, Help for Distraught and Desperate Parents, and Questions to Ask and Warning Signs.

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