Correctional Boot Camps: A Tough Intermediate Sanction - Chapter 11.
The Development and Operation of Juvenile Boot Camps in Florida 


MENU TITLE: Juvenile Boot Camps in Florida
Series: NIJ Report
Published: February 1996
10 pages
21,892 bytes

The Development and Operation of Juvenile Boot
Camps in Florida 

by Elizabeth S. Cass, Ph.D., and Neil Kaltenecker

Elizabeth Cass is a researcher with the Florida
Department of Juvenile Justice, where she is
conducting an outcome evaluation of each of the
juvenile boot camps operated by the State of
Florida. Neil Kaltenecker is Program Manager of
P.A.C.E. Center for Girls/Leon, a nonprofit dropout
prevention program in Tallahassee, Florida. He
played a leading role in the development and
implementation of juvenile boot camp programs while
employed at the Florida Department of Health and
Rehabilitative Services.

Florida operates more juvenile boot camps than any
other State in the United States. An important
aspect of these programs is the partnerships local
and State governments have created to promote
community involvement and the utilization of local
resources. The six camps currently operating in
Florida are run by county sheriff's departments
with oversight by the Florida Department of
Juvenile Justice. Boot camps target youths with a
history of serious offenses. The program is
designed to "shock" the youths into compliance by
strict military-style discipline. This chapter
provides an overview of the development and
operation of these boot camps, with special
emphasis on the State's first program in Manatee
County. Drill instructors in the program receive
more than 200 hours of training in boot camp
procedures. Boot camps have an aftercare component
that differs from county to county but generally
includes a postrelease day program in the community
for several months after graduation from the boot
camp itself.

Although Florida has only recently employed boot
camps as a method of dealing with juvenile
delinquency, it currently operates more such camps
than any other State. As of December 1994, juvenile
boot camps were operating in six counties, and
three additional camps are scheduled to open in
1995. 

Juvenile boot camps in Florida were developed
through partnerships between the State and local
governments. Each of the six camps currently
operating was created through the collaborative
efforts of the Florida Department of Juvenile
Justice (DJJ) and local county sheriff's
departments. General guidelines for operating these
programs are established by Florida statute and
further defined in the State's administrative rule,
but otherwise each locality is given the
flexibility to develop a program that makes use of
local resources and involves the community.

Statutory Origin

In 1989 the Florida statute pertaining to juvenile
justice (F.S. Chapter 39) was revised, authorizing
the creation of juvenile boot camps. The camps were
to target "deep-end," more serious offenders, in
contrast to adult boot camps, which are typically
designed for first-time, nonviolent offenders. To
be eligible for boot camp placement, the statute
stipulated that juveniles be between the ages of 14
and 17 at the time of adjudication and have been
committed to the custody of the State for either
(1) a capital, life, first-degree, or second-degree
felony or (2) a third-degree felony with two or
more prior felony adjudications, of which one or
more resulted in residential placement.

The statute intended the programs to be an
"intensive educational and physical training and
rehabilitative program for appropriate children,"
which would require juveniles to "participate in
educational, vocational, and substance abuse
programs and to receive additional training in
techniques of appropriate decisionmaking, as well
as in life skills and job skills. Postrelease
community supervision is mandated, and the camps'
residential and aftercare components must last at
least 6 months.

An administrative rule was promulgated by the State
to govern the operation of boot camps. It set
minimum standards for policies and procedures and
serves as the foundation for State oversight of
boot camp programs. The State's low per diem
funding of boot camps has not covered all of their
operational costs. Therefore, local communities
have had to supplement that funding. With the
involvement and financial backing of local
communities, programs could be designed to best
suit the juveniles in that area. To illustrate this
process, this chapter focuses on the development of
the State's first boot camp in Manatee County,
which has served as a model for the State's other
programs. 

Development of the Manatee County Boot Camp

In September 1992, discussions between the Florida
Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services
(HRS) and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office led
to the creation of the first boot camp for
juveniles in Florida.1 At that time, Manatee County
Sheriff Charlie B. Wells was building a boot camp
facility for the county's adult jail population.
With the support of the Manatee County Commission,
he agreed to change the targeted population to
juveniles to help ease burgeoning residential
placement problems in Florida's juvenile justice
system. A program model for a new juvenile camp was
developed by a group consisting of local and State
HRS officials, Sheriff Wells, and his staff. The
design made use of paramilitary structure and
discipline but also emphasized education, personal
accountability, and positive social values and
behavior.

An operational contract was negotiated in which the
State paid $56 per youth per day to the Manatee
County Sheriff's Office--approximately half the
State funding rate of other high-risk residential
programs. The sheriff's office supplemented the
program's budget by providing meals, medical
services, and a computer laboratory. This type of
collaborative partnership between State and local
governments became the model for boot camps
subsequently opened around the State.

Staffing. The program's drill instructors are
members of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office who
previously worked as correctional officers in the
county jail. In addition to the 411 hours of
training required to become a State-certified
correctional officer, they received 200 more hours
of training in boot camp procedures. 

In 1994, the juvenile justice statute was modified
to provide for the development of statewide boot
camp staff training. The statute now requires all
boot camp staff having direct contact with
juveniles to complete a minimum of 200 hours of
State-approved training, including training in
counseling techniques, basic cardiopulmonary
resuscitation and choke-relief, and the control of
aggression. Furthermore, it requires that all
training courses be taught by certified instructors
of the division of Criminal Justice Standards and
Training of the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement who have prior experience in a juvenile
boot camp program. Counseling techniques must be 
taught by staff who have at least a bachelor's 
degree in social work, counseling, psychology, or 
a related field. The development of a statewide 
course will help address staffing problems faced 
by boot camps that need to replace instructors 
after initial staff training has already taken 
place.

Selection of youths. Florida's juvenile boot camp
programs were originally designed to be high-risk
residential programs. Unlike many boot camp
programs for adults, placement is not voluntary.
The process of placing youths in camps begins when
a juvenile court judge commits a youth to DJJ
custody. After a judge orders placement at one of
four levels of restrictiveness (designated as
nonresidential and low-, moderate-, and high-risk
residential programs), DJJ assigns youths to
specific programs. For youths who are ordered into
a moderate- or high-risk residential program, one
option is boot camp. 

Florida's juvenile justice statute requires that
all youths sent to boot camp be screened to ensure
that programs admit only those juveniles who have
"medical and psychological profiles conducive to
successfully completing an intensive work,
educational, and disciplinary program." Programs
exclude youths with a history of psychiatric
illness or suicidal tendencies, youths currently
taking psychotropic medications, and those with
abnormal electrocardiograms, asthma, or other
physical problems that would make boot camp
placement inappropriate. Although not dictated by
statute, currently boot camps accept only males.

Manatee County Boot Camp has a capacity of 30
juveniles. Consistent with a military model, youths
enter the program as platoons of approximately 15
members. While grouping inmates in platoons is an
appropriate form of military organization, it
produces certain complications for the State's
juvenile justice placement system. New platoons
typically enter camps every 2 months; some youths
face a waiting period between disposition of their
case and entry into the boot camp. Because
supervision is necessary during this period, the
State must provide temporary residential or
nonresidential placement.

The Boot Camp Experience at Manatee

The first day of camp in the Manatee County program
is designed to "shock" the juvenile offender into
compliance. The day begins when hand and leg cuffs
are placed on the youths and they are transported
from the local detention center to the Manatee
County Jail. Once offenders are inside the jail
compound's gates, their hand and leg cuffs are
removed and they are driven to the boot camp
grounds. The van is surrounded by drill instructors
who bang on the outside of the van and demand that
the boys exit the vehicle and line up. 

The new arrivals are frisked and marched to a
classroom where they receive military-style
haircuts. The rules of military conduct are
explained, including requirements that each recruit
begin and end every sentence with "Sir" or "Ma'am"
and excuse himself when passing others. Failure to
perform this ritual is the most common reason for
admonishment during the first day. The response of
drill instructors to noncompliance is swift and
loud, but abusive or derogatory speech is
prohibited. Pushups are used to punish recalcitrant
inmates. 

Each recruit is assigned a room and a uniform. (The
camp's living quarters are made up of single rooms
to increase staff control and to decrease recruit
interaction.) Youths spend the remainder of the
first day reviewing the recruit handbook. A drill
instructor reads the handbook out loud while
encouraging recruits to ask for clarification and
questioning them to make sure they understand. 

The first week of the program is designed to keep
offenders off balance and confused. The expectation
is that the shock of the new environment will cause
the youths to question the behaviors and beliefs
that led to their placement in the camp. They can
then begin the process of changing their view of
themselves and the world.

After a week of orientation, the Manatee County
program's demanding schedule begins, including
training in military-style conduct and the basics
of military drill. Youths begin each day at 5 a.m.
and end it at 9:00 p.m. 

Inmates spend the largest part of each weekday--6
hours--in school. Three and a quarter hours are
devoted to physical activity that includes physical
training, drill and ceremony, the obstacle course,
and upkeep of the camp. One hour is devoted to
group counseling sessions conducted by a private
psychologist contracted by the camp. Youths also
spend 1 hour each day in their rooms, where they
are expected to read, write letters, or do
homework. A silence rule is imposed with the
exception of school, counseling, and, as necessary,
during work details. No television sets, radios, or
newspapers are available in the camp. 

The program's residential phase is designed to last
4 months. Inmates who in the commander's view have
not progressed in that time can be held for a
longer period. During this segment of the program,
youths advance through a series of phases
designated by colored hats. Progress is tracked
through a daily contact record book in which drill
instructors record the positive and negative
behaviors of each recruit. If a recruit's progress
is deemed satisfactory, he receives a new hat at
the end of the month and is accorded the privileges
associated with the next program phase. In the
first phase youths are not permitted visits or
phone calls except in an emergency. In the second
they are allowed a 5-minute telephone call and a
1-hour visit with family members each week.

Youths who complete the program on time attend a
transition ceremony on the boot camp grounds to
mark their accomplishment. Family and friends are
invited to attend, and each recruit receives a
certificate indicating that he is a graduate of the
camp. The transition ceremony is viewed not as an
ending but as the beginning of a new life outside
the camp in which the lessons learned there will be
put to use. 

Programming Differences Among the Camps

Although the Manatee County pilot project was
emulated by other Florida counties, each of the
State's boot camps has modified the model to meet
local conditions. The Leon County Sheriff's
program, for example, has incorporated a second
residential phase called the "Community
Transitional Program" that gives juveniles more
privileges and responsibilities. Youths are also
permitted to participate in community service
projects. 

Pinellas County's program is called a "preparatory
school" and is less regimented than the State's
other boot camps, with time scheduled each day for
recreational activities. The school is conducted
without a strict military atmosphere and does not
use some of the program's military protocol.

Postrelease Community Supervision

After graduating from boot camp, all youths are
assigned to a day treatment program. Assignment is
generally contingent on the location of youths'
homes, and services are provided by a variety of
private agencies. This section provides a general
description of services that can in fact vary from
program to program. 

Youths attend day treatment for 6 to 9 months,
depending on their needs. Typically, boot camp
graduates are picked up from home early in the
morning and transported to the aftercare facility
for supervised activities throughout the day and
evening. Youths are returned home by approximately
9 p.m. A curfew is enforced, with violations
sometimes resulting in electronic monitoring. 

During the day program's first few months, youths
attend school at the aftercare facility. Nonschool
hours are filled with group and individual
counseling and recreational activities. As youths
progress through the program, they earn
unsupervised and unstructured time by demonstrating
positive behaviors and eventually return to their
local high schools or begin full-time jobs. 

During the first 60 days following their release
from boot camp, youths can be returned to custody
for failing to abide by their aftercare programs'
rules and regulations. This option, contingent on
an administrative hearing, is intended to give
aftercare providers a means to manage behavior once
juveniles leave the highly structured boot camp
environment. Returning youths to boot camp is
viewed as a way to refresh instruction and
demonstrates to other youths that noncompliance in
aftercare carries consequences. However, because 
offenders enter boot camps as platoons and 
progress as a group (with some progressing in 
"hats" faster than others), the return of 
graduates to camps has caused logistical
problems. Some camps have elected to create
separate platoons for these individuals; others
have assimilated them into their newest platoons.
Both approaches have proved less than ideal-- the
first produces a manpower drain and the second
disrupts existing platoons.

Statistical Profile of Juvenile Inmates

Between March 29, 1993, when Florida's first camp
opened in Manatee County, and August 31, 1994, 262
youths were placed in boot camp programs around the
State.2 Youths ranged in age from 14 to 18 at
entry, with a mean age of 16. Overall, 59 percent
of youths were black, but programs varied
tremendously in this regard, from a high of 81
percent to a low of 49 percent.

Of the 262 juveniles admitted to the five boot
camps, 94 percent successfully completed their
programs. Boot camps varied in the rate at which
youths completed the program, from a low of 87
percent in Martin County to a high of 100 percent
in Bay County. 

Of the average of 17 recruits who did not graduate,
nearly two-thirds left within the first 30 days.
Inmates not completing their programs did not drop
out in the traditional sense; the decision to leave
a boot camp is not voluntarily made by recruits.
The major reason for noncompletion was poor
screening. Undetected medical problems were the
most frequent cause for removal. A small number of
youths were removed for assaulting drill
instructors or attempting to escape.

Of the youths completing their programs,
preliminary data indicate that 16 percent were
returned to boot camps due to disciplinary problems
in aftercare programs. The additional time they
spent at boot camps varied widely, from 2 to 206
days, with an average of 66 days.4 One issue of
particular interest to DJJ officials is whether
returning juveniles to boot camps ultimately
improves their chances of successful reintegration
into the community. 

Twenty-five percent of recruits were convicted of a
violent felony against a person. Pinellas County
had the highest percentage of violent felons (31
percent), while Bay County admitted no youths who
had committed violent felonies. This variation
across programs reflects the disparate placement
strategies applied throughout the State. 

Inmates' histories of delinquent behavior were also
examined. Recruits averaged 23 previous referrals
to DJJ and 12 previous adjudications in juvenile
court.6 It is clear that juveniles placed in
Florida's boot camps had extensive histories of
delinquency, and 73 percent previously had spent
time in a commitment program. For the majority of
youths, assignment to boot camp was not the first
attempt by the juvenile justice system to change
their behavior. 

The Continuing Development of Florida's Boot Camps

During the 1993-94 session, State legislators made
a number of important changes to Florida's juvenile
justice statute that directly affected juvenile
boot camps. The most important change concerned
boot camp eligibility. After October 1, 1994, the
statute stipulated that eligible juveniles were
those who had been committed to the department for
"any offense that, if committed by an adult, would
be a felony, other than a capital felony, a life
felony, or a violent felony of the first degree." 

This modification simultaneously excluded some
offenders who had previously been eligible for boot
camp placement-- the most violent felons-- and
broadened the pool of eligibility to all other
felons.

A second statutory change authorized the creation
of low- and moderate-risk residential boot camp
programs. Moderate-risk programs now require
juveniles to stay 4 months in boot camp and 4
months in aftercare, whereas low-risk programs
require 2 months in boot camp and 2 months in
aftercare. Finally, the new statute increased the
minimum incarceration period for boot camps
classified as high-risk residential programs to 4
months in boot camp and 4 months in aftercare.

The Florida Legislature also appropriated funds to
implement a total of 12 programs across the State.
Decisions as to which counties will operate camps
are made at DJJ's central office in Tallahassee,
and priority is given to proposals that include
significant local participation in funding and to
those that provide facilities. Three boot camps are
currently under development, including one contract
in Volusia County held by the State Attorney's
office. A 40-bed facility for young women in Polk
County is scheduled to open in 1995.

Future Evaluations

The statute authorizing the creation of juvenile
boot camps in Florida directed DJJ to collect
information on criminal activity, educational
progress, and employment placement for all boot
camp participants. Results in these areas are to be
compared to results for youths placed in other
types of juvenile programs operated by the State.
DJJ's Bureau of Research and Data is currently
collecting data for this evaluation.

Notes

1.  As of October 1, 1994, responsibility for
juvenile justice programs was transferred from
Health and Rehabilitative Services to the newly
created Department of Juvenile Justice.

2.  An additional 17 youths were placed in a
Pensacola, Florida, boot camp operated by the
Private Industry Council. The program closed within
2 months due to operational problems. These youths
are not included in this analysis.

3.  Polk County Sheriff's Office opened a boot camp
on September 30, 1994, and accepted a platoon of 20
recruits. It is the only program in Florida
designed for platoons of 20.

4.  Some recruits were returned to boot camps on
multiple occasions; these figures represent the
total additional time recruits spent in those
programs.

5.  Data were available on only 228 of the 262
cases.

6.  Data were available on only 189 of the 262
cases.

References

Florida Statutes, Chapter 39.057.

Juvenile Boot Camp Program Manual. Palmetto,
Florida: Manatee County Sheriff's Office, 1993.