ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 7, 1996 TAG: 9609090053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT
SOURCE: Newport News Daily Press
Virginia's first juvenile boot camp, which opened for boys in January, has expanded to accept girls.
But Hurricane Fran delayed their arrival at the Virginia Juvenile Boot Camp in Isle of Wight County, said Sgt. Robert Gardner. The 10 girls had been scheduled to arrive Friday morning, but Fran's winds and rain prevented the state from transporting any prisoners, he said.
The girls are expected at the camp, also known as Camp Washington, by next week, Gardner said. The boot camp is the only one of its kind for girls in Virginia.
Maj. Jack Scott, the camp's executive director and commander, said the girls will be in for a 150-day program, which includes more than five hours a day of classroom instruction and rigorous physical training and discipline.
Youth Service International Inc., based in Owings Mills, Md., operates the camp under contract with the state and Richmond, which sends the most offenders. YSI has 17 other facilities in 10 states, Scott said.
He has barred media from the camp until next week to give the girls a chance to settle in. All the girls, ages 14 through 18, are nonviolent offenders convicted of such crimes as truancy, vandalism, delinquency or drug abuse, Scott said. The camp is intended for girls who have never been incarcerated. Sex offenders and arsonists are not admitted.
The girls are not considered escape risks, Scott said, although a fence topped with barbed wire surrounds the perimeter of the former minimum-security facility.
A 50-by-150-foot building set up for the girls comes with three classrooms, a laundry service, wall and footlockers, and cots arranged in a large room, military style, Scott said.
The girls will be kept entirely separate from the 45 boys at Camp Washington, Scott said, using shared rooms, such as computer labs, the mess hall and recreation areas, at different times.
The programs, however, will be similar.
Physical fitness, including marching in cadence, begins at 6 a.m., followed by classroom instruction and vocational education, such as computer training. There is also a course in basic life skills, which teaches the girls to read classified ads, write resumes, conduct phone interviews and dress for a job interview. The girls may earn a general equivalency diploma at the camp. Five boys have received GEDs, Scott said, although none has gone on to college yet.
The girls will have no free time and must be in bed by 9:45 p.m., he said. A supervisor remains on watch in the barracks all night.
The girls, like the boys, also will have the option of attending one of four ``special-interest groups,'' including Gideons International, the Salvation Army, Southeastern Correctional Ministry and the Catholic church.
Scott said approximately 50 percent of the boys choose to participate in the special-interest groups.
Once the girls graduate, they are required to attend a 180-day after-care program, in which they return to their communities but meet with a counselor, provided by Youth Services International, two or three times a week, depending on their needs.
Also, community service is required after release, Scott said. Some of the boys have cleaned up abandoned graveyards, and a few helped set up booths for this weekend's Isle of Wight County Fair.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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