THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996 TAG: 9601310471
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WALTERS LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
When 15 street-wise kids from urban Richmond woke up today, they found few streets awaiting their wisdom. And instead of urban sounds, there was rural silence.
Those are not the only ways the inaugural class of Camp Washington, Virginia's first juvenile boot camp, will see lives change.
For the next six months, the booming voice of a drill sergeant will invite the camp's residents to hit the deck - at 5:30 a.m. - to start their totally structured days.
If any of it pleases them, they'll be encouraged to utter what sounds like: ``Hup. Hup. Hung.'' But not in the mess hall; no talking during meals.
The youngsters, all boys from 13 to 17 years old, will be joined in about two months by 15 more youths - then another 15 - until the camp's population is about 50, perhaps half the population of Walters.
The facility is in Isle of Wight County, off U.S. Route 258 and just outside Windsor. A former work camp belonging to the Virginia Department of Corrections, the 59-acre site was abandoned some years ago and eventually given to the State Department of Youth and Family Services.
That department didn't know quite what to do with it, director Patricia West said Tuesday, until she and a Richmond official attended a boot camp seminar in Georgia. While her department had funds for a 20-bed boot camp, she learned, the city had set aside funds for a 25-bed camp.
The city and the state decided to pool resources.
Youth Services International, a private company geared toward rehabilitating youthful offenders in a military environment, runs the camp.
The company claims a 70 percent success rate for former students, who generally go back to school or to work.
YSI, which operates about 20 similar facilities in nine other states, was started by W. James Hindman.
A Maryland millionaire, he was described by a boyhood friend as ``an insecure, throwaway kid who has to prove himself.''
Officials of the multimillion dollar company said Tuesday, at the media conference to open the Walters camp, that Hindman has accomplished what he set out to do.
``Our intent is to take tax eaters and potential tax eaters and change them into successful, taxpaying citizens,'' said David Dolch, YSI's senior vice president of support services. ``We will do it with intensity, integrity and intimacy. We will break that pipeline into adult corrections. We will change the way they think and the way they act.''
The first class, all from Richmond's inner-city , arrived about 2 p.m. Tuesday. Most have been convicted of breaking and entering, possessing drugs, lesser assault charges and other, non-violent, offenses.
They were sentenced by judges to attend the boot camp as an alternative to traditional, state juvenile facilities. The camp was funded last year by the General Assembly.
Until their classroom is completed, they will take high school and general equivalency diploma classes in a huge room next to the dormitory. When the youngsters aren't studying, they will be drilling, cleaning, bathing, washing their own clothes, eating quietly or participating in counseling sessions.
YSI uses no armed security guards or physical restraint. ``We use respect and dignity,'' said Major John Johnson, camp commander. ``We use our hands and our presence. You have to see it in action.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
JOHN H. SHEALLY II/The Virginian-Pilot
Youth Services International, a private company geared toward
rehabilitating youthful offenders in a military environment, runs
the camp, which is a former Virginia Department of Corrections
facility. Above, employees conduct a tour of the camp.
by CNB