THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140360
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Long : 108 lines
Sporting close-cropped hair, camouflaged fatigues and shiny black boots, 17 cadets at Virginia's first juvenile boot camp showed off Wednesday for state and local officials, representatives of various state departments, mothers, fathers and grandparents.
At the grand opening of Camp Washington, they marched in unison, called out drill formations and stood at attention. But it was a quieter show - simple communication between one cadet and his parents - that brought tears to a mother's eyes.
Shaun Morgan, 16, was known as ``The Menace'' in the Henrico County Juvenile Court System. He broke curfew laws, smoked pot, tried to steal wine from a convenience store and, he admits, had no respect for authority.
Even on that night in mid-December, when Shaun was picked up by a sheriff's deputy after running away from home and staying at a friend's house for more than two weeks, the rebellious teenager was certain the courts would send him home again.
But, this time, the court system surprised him. Instead of putting Shaun on home arrest, he was sent to boot camp.
``I was sure I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted,'' he said, as he stood talking quietly with his parents. ``I was smoking pot and drinking all the time.''
When he said that, Faye Morgan broke down and fell into her young son's arms.
``This is the first time he's admitted it,'' she said, between sobs. ``This is the first time he's said he had a problem with alcohol.''
When he arrived at the 59-acre site that was formerly a work camp of the Virginia Department of Corrections, Shaun recalled, he thought he was walking into a ``day camp'' atmosphere. He was wrong again.
``I thought I was going to die,'' he said. ``At first, they push you as far as you can go.''
That's the style of Youth Services International, the private company that runs the facility in Isle of Wight County, off U.S. Route 258, near Windsor. The company gears its rehabilitation efforts toward a no-frills military environment.
Camp Washington opened and welcomed its first cadets in late January. The facility is a result of combined funding from the City of Richmond and the state Department of Youth and Family Services. It is an effort to carve a place in the juvenile justice system for non-violent offenders who most experts agree don't belong in the state's existing juvenile correctional facilities.
Philip Nguyen of Chesterfield has something to compare the boot camp with. At 16, he was in the Richmond and Chesterfield detention centers for stealing cars and breaking into homes.
``Yes, ma'am. Here, they care about you, ma'am,'' he said Wednesday, in clipped, military fashion. ``They teach you more, and you learn more self-discipline. Ma'am.''
Youth Services International, which runs 20 other such facilities in several states from its headquarters in Maryland, claims a 70 percent success rate.
Debbie Snow has seen some of that success in her son, a 16-year-old Henrico youth incarcerated for trespassing, verbal abuse and kicking in the windows of a police car.
``I was a little worried at first,'' Snow said. ``It's a new program. But he told us that 20 minutes after he got here, he knew what he was going to do.''
Donald Snow Jr. knows that he's changed. He's found direction in life. Now, he's talking about joining the Navy SEALs.
One drill instructor, Jamez Beckwith, has promised to get a recruiter to come to the camp to talk with him, he said.
The cadets rise at 5:30 a.m., attend academic classes, drill and participate in group counseling throughout the day. Most of the parents agreed they have seen a change in a short time.
``He's a different person,'' Philip's mother, Cuong Tran, said. ``He made a 100 on a test. He's never done that in school.''
To what does Beckwith credit the change in the youth?
``Good drill instructors,'' he said, grinning.
``And the staff is dedicated to the kids. We have a philosophy here that we treat all of them like they were our own. We use a little tough love.''
The camp has a capacity for about 50. It is designed for boys from 13 to 17 years old. And David Dolch, Youth Services International's senior vice president of support services, believes that the camp, or facilities like it, could be the answer to many of today's youthful problems. ``We have a tremendous task,'', Dolch told the crowd of about 100 gathered in front of him on the parade field. ``America needs to wake up and recognize we are losing our children.''
The first class of cadets, if they pay attention to rules, will graduate in June. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II, The Virginian-Pilot
At the opening of Camp Washington Wednesday, 17 cadets marched and
mingled with parents, other relatives and officials. The facility
near Windsor is for nonviolent offenders who may not belong in the
state's juvenile correctional facilities.
Color photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II, The Virginian-Pilot
Seventeen cadets marched in unison, called out drill formations and
stood at attention at Virginia's first juvenile boot camp Wednesday.
This first class of cadets, if they pay attention to rules, will
graduate in June.
Donald Snow Jr., 16...
KEYWORDS: JUVENILE OFFENDER JUVENILE BOOT CAMP PRIVATIZATION
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