Indiana Department of Correction photo
Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, criticized Gov. Mike Pence on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014, after learning that Pence and the state Department of Correction plan to close the Camp Summit boot camp for juvenile offenders in LaPorte County.
Pelath
“It has come to our attention that the governor and his administration will announce in the next few days their intentions to close Camp Summit for budgetary reasons. In other words, they want to eliminate 70 LaPorte County jobs in the service of their increasingly bloated budget surplus,” Pelath said in a press release. “If they follow through on this threat, it marks the latest indication that people and jobs don’t matter as much as politically crafted financial statements.
“This decision would be particularly crazy because the state is shuttering a program that has a demonstrated impact in turning around the lives of troubled youths. At any time at Camp Summit, close to 100 youths across Indiana have the chance to resume their education, receive counseling, and gain the skills that will enable them to return to society and care for themselves and others. But that apparently means nothing to an administration that has no problems with shuttling those youths to other locations around the state, and telling the dedicated staff at Camp Summit that they can either uproot their families or find other jobs. It also will wreak havoc on federal guidelines covering staffing at correctional facilities, leading to less rehabilitation and more
Pence
wayward lives.”
Camp Summit opened as a youth boot camp in 1995. But its history dates back to the early 1900s when it was established as a prison farm for state male inmates deemed non-violent. Inmates raised cattle and grew crops on the farm to feed themselves as well as inmates at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. At one time it was converted to a facility to house female inmates.
As Indiana’s only paramilitary-style boot camp since 1995, the facility’s program has housed juvenile males from throughout Indiana in a medium-security setting, providing high school and GED classes. Programs included individual, group and family counseling, as well as substance abuse counseling and classes in parenting and anger management.
For more information, contact Pelath at 1-800-382-9842 or visit http://pelath.indianahousedemocrats.org/contact.