Countywide
San Diego County supervisors voted Tuesday to extend for 60 days the county’s contract with the controversial VisionQuest juvenile reform program.
That period, officials said, should allow the 32 county youths still in the program to graduate. Then, unless the Board of Supervisors acts to renew the contract, the county’s relationship with VisionQuest would end.
VisionQuest, best known for its cross-country wagon train treks, emphasizes challenging outdoor activity and offers what some regard as harsh discipline to reform wayward youth. The county grand jury and the Probation Department have recommended that all ties with the program be severed when the current contract expires June 30. No San Diego County youths have been sent to VisionQuest since December.
But supervisors Tuesday suggested that they may yet vote to renew the county’s $2-million annual contract with VisionQuest, should pending reports from the federal grand jury in San Diego and the Rand Corp., a Santa Monica-based think tank, include positive information about the program’s techniques and results.
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