`BOOT CAMPS' SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS FAIL LOCAL YOUTH PROGRAMS EMPHASIZE RESPECT.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - While juvenile ``boot camps'' across the nation have closed because some young offenders were mistreated, Los Angeles County's youth probation camps say the regimented program works.

The key is using the premise to bolster the youths' self-confidence and self-respect rather than strip it away, said Ed Anhalt, director of Camp Kenyon Scudder in Bouquet Canyon, one of 18 such programs countywide.

``We try not to tear a person down, but build them up,'' Anhalt said.

Erik, a 15-year-old company commander at the camp, said the boot camp has changed his focus in life.

``The camp gives us a wake-up call,'' he said. ``I get a lot of structure here. When I get out, I'll be able to follow the rules out there.''

According to Jerry Wells, a researcher at the Koch Crime Institute in Topeka, Kan., boot camps were based on the philosophy of imposing a highly structured environment on adults or juveniles so they can make better decisions when they are released. The interest in such programs blossomed with the upsurge in crime in the late 1980s.

Larry Vangor, a leader at the county's camp headquarters, said camps John Munz and William Mendenhall in Lake Hughes just north of Santa Clarita were the first in the county to adopt the regimentation style of boot camps by implementing the best attributes of those military-modeled programs.

Vangor stressed that additional components of the regimentation program, such as education, community service, life skills training, peer mediation, impulse and anger control and a transitional program to provide a network of support for the cadets after they leave, are among the differences between L.A. County's programs and traditional boot camps.

``We've got one of the biggest problems in the world with delinquency, and we are trying to fight it the best we can,'' he said.

Recently, boot camps have come under scrutiny after allegations of abuse surfaced in Maryland's three camps a few months ago and 14-year-old Gina Score died July 21 after she collapsed during a long-distance run while in the custody of South Dakota's State Training School.

On Dec. 7, about 4 1/2 months after allegations of excessive force surfaced at three western Maryland camps - Savage Mountain, Backbone Mountain and Meadow Mountain - a task force determined that abuse and beatings had indeed occurred at the locations since August.

``We had an officer terminated for use of pressure points,'' said Bob Kannenberg, spokesman for Maryland's Department of Juvenile Justice. ``There was another incident where an officer hit a (cadet) with an arrow shaft.''

It was further determined that both the juvenile justice secretary and his deputy had been aware of the abuse, Kannenberg said.

On Dec. 15, one week after the task force made its findings, the secretary resigned, Kannenberg said.

Savage Mountain was closed and the other two camps were demilitarized. Officials will continue to explore what went wrong at these camps to help decide their fates, Kannenberg said. He said no one has yet been charged with criminal conduct as a result of the investigation.

Such behavior would not be tolerated locally, Anhalt said.

Cadets at the camp can vent their frustrations with the system by filling out grievances, he said. An average of five are filled out each week, and they are attended to promptly by the camp's acting director, Anhalt said.

A study conducted by personnel at the Koch Crime Institute in 1998 determined that boot camps are no more successful than other juvenile correctional facilities in curbing recidivism, as rates range from 64 to 75 percent among those at the boot camps.

Local recidivism rates are not kept, probation officials said, declining to note how they measure success.

The study also concluded that follow-up programs are a key component of preventing offenders from repeating their crimes, Wells said. Officials in both Maryland and California agreed that having a transitional program in place is an important aspect of boot camp and other types of regimentation programs.

In fact, Kannenberg said Maryland's Department of Juvenile Justice is working on a $750,000 program because of the strong belief that follow-up is integral to the success of the youths.

After cadets in Los Angeles County leave the camps, they are still connected with community liaisons who work with them to help them stay out of trouble, a model for systems that have experienced problems.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- ran in SAC and AV edition only; color in SAC) Cadets march in formation Wednesday during exercises at Camp Kenyon Scudder in Bouquet Canyon, one of 18 county ``boot camps'' for youthful offenders.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color in SAC edition only) Crew instructor David Scheivert addresses a cadet at Camp Scudder during recent color guard training.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer