YOUTH STEP PROGRAM : `BOOT CAMPS' IN AREA HOLD OPEN HOUSE.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Dressed in tan camouflage fatigues and black lace-up boots, they march in crisp lock step formation and address adults in polite, respectful tones peppered with ``Yes, sir'' or ``Yes, ma'am.''

In a modern-day version of reform school, teen-age girls at Camp Joseph Scott and their male counterparts at Camp Kenyon Scudder demonstrated Wednesday how military-style discipline mixed with a healthy dose of attitude adjustment can ready them for life ``on the outs.''

It is the outside world, the streets of their old neighborhoods, for which these teen-agers who have run afoul of the law say they have the most trepidation.

The task for probation officers at the Bouquet Canyon Road camps is to prepare their young charges to make positive choices once they have completed their court-ordered stays and left the safe, insulated camp environment.

Although Camps Scudder and Scott switched to the ``boot camp'' format back in April, the Los Angeles County Probation Department held their official open house Wednesday at their wooded compounds.

Of the county's 18 juvenile probation camps, only two - Camp John Munz and Camp William Mendenhall at Lake Hughes - use the boot camp method to turn around wayward kids. Six years after Munz and Mendenhall adopted that concept, county officials decided to try out the regimen at two Santa Clarita Valley camps - a first for the young female inmates.

``There has been a lot of discussion of boot camps,'' Barry Nidorf, the county's chief probation officer, told the assembled family members and county officials at the open house.

``I can assure you they work, but it's not just because of the uniforms. It's not just because of the marching. It's not just because of the regimentation, which many people believe is all it takes to have a boot camp,'' he said.

Instead, Nidorf cited the Probation Department's follow-up supervision to monitor whether the youths stay on the straight and narrow path. Also, teens get substance abuse counseling, learn personal responsibility, attend school and receive vocational training while serving their camp sentence.

Sometimes the life lessons come at 35 feet, while balanced atop a slightly wobbly wooden pole.

``I'm going to fall,'' a pony-tailed inmate whimpered as she prepared to execute the grand finale of a camp drill.

``No, you're not. If you do, we got you,'' her teammates yelled back, reminding 15-year-old Jackie and the assembled crowd that the safety line they held and the harness around the girl's waist would keep her safe.

A few seconds later, Jackie jumped from her perch and grabbed a trapeze several feet away. She basked in equal parts relief and applause as her teammates lowered her to the ground, proud that she had overcome her fear.

``That was my first time being up there,'' admitted Jackie, who was sent to boot camp in July on a graffiti vandalism charge and will be released next week. ``I guess you just have to trust them.''

(County regulations prohibit identification of minors in the criminal justice system. Probation Department officials allow the youths to disclose their first names and the offense for which they are incarcerated.)

Jitahadi Imara, director of Camp Scudder, said the 108 boys and 103 girls of Camp Scott begin each day at 6 a.m. Following inspections of their bunks and uniforms, the youths go to school and then spend the afternoon and evening on work details or in peer meetings on topics like gang diversion and anger management, designed to help the teens avoid the pitfalls that first landed them in trouble.

``The meetings are very important,'' Imara said. ``The emphasis is placed on the juveniles having the responsibility to resolve their own problems.''

Lancaster resident Robert Newhouse expressed optimism his 17-year-old daughter would benefit from boot camp, her sentence for truancy and gang activity. The teen earned her high school equivalency diploma, learned to cook, and now aspires to a career in computer programming, Newhouse said.

``When I talked to her last, she was planning on going to college,'' the father said. ``She has a different outlook and really takes things seriously. I'm really proud of her,'' he said.

Added grandmother Tonya Newhouse: ``When she gets out of here, she has a future.''

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4 Photos

Photo: (1--ran in SAC only--color) Inmates from Camp Kenyon Scudder in Saugus march during Wednesday's open house ceremony.

(2--ran in SAC only--color) Deputy Probation Officer Robert Kain lines up the Camp Kenyon Scudder inmates.

(3--ran in AV and SAC--color in SAC) A Camp Joseph Scott color guard member stands at attention. Camps Scudder and Scott became ``boot camps'' in April.

(4--ran in SAC only--color) Camp Kenyon Scudder inmates keep a watchful eye on a fellow inmate standing on a 35-foot-high rope obstacle.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News