County May Apply for Boot Camp Funds

Ventura County is hoping to join two other area counties in applying for a $1.3-million federal grant that would be used to operate a military-style boot camp for nonviolent juvenile offenders, officials said.

The Board of Supervisors will vote today on a proposal to apply, along with Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, for the grant, which will be available as part of last year’s omnibus crime bill, officials said.

If the counties obtain the grant, the boot camp would be operated within the existing Los Prietos Boys’ Camp in Santa Barbara County. The camp is in Los Padres National Forest, about 30 miles north of Santa Barbara.

Plans call for adding a new gymnasium and a 24-bed dormitory, bringing the number of beds available to 80. Ventura County would have control of 20 beds, which officials said would help relieve overcrowding in the county’s Juvenile Hall.

The federal crime bill requires a 25% match toward construction costs, with Ventura County’s portion being $166,666. Officials said the money would come from Proposition 86, a statewide bond measure approved by voters in 1988 to raise money for the construction of juvenile halls and jail facilities.

If all goes as planned, county probation officials estimate that the first inmates could be sent to the boot camp in about 18 months. They would range in age from 13 to 18 and serve up to four months, depending on how well they can follow orders, officials said.

Once at the camp, juveniles would undergo a strict regimen of exercise, school, forestry work and military style discipline designed to discourage future criminal behavior while providing them with some direction in life, the officials said.