It’s time to grow up and be a man.
Those were the words of Independence Township resident Steven Bailey, 20, as he approached a Dec. 25 graduation from Oakland County’s Boot Camp ? more formally known as the Regimented Inmate Discipline Program.
The program, which has turned out 2,740 graduates since 1990, was developed by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office to reduce overcrowding in the jail, as well as to provide non-assaultive offenders with intensive life management training.
Bailey, who was incarcerated on felony charges related to drugs and alcohol, said he learned a lot about personal responsibility during his 8-week stint in the program.
Much like the military, participants are broken down and built back up through their own trials and tribulations as they progress through the program.
‘At first it was in-your-face yelling all the time,? Bailey said. ‘Things were always changing, they were always putting you in a place where you had no idea what was going on, and you’re not allowed to talk to anyone or look anyone in the eye.?
But after eight weeks of drill and ceremony, work details, individual and group counseling, academic classes, life-skills classes, fitness training, and community service, participants emerge with a new sense of self-respect.
Located at the OCSO Satellite Complex in Auburn Hills, the program’s objectives include education, discipline, teamwork and physical strengthening.
‘Integrity is a huge thing here,? Bailey said. ‘Everyone comes in loud and obnoxious, and no one trusts anyone else. But when you show integrity, you get respected from the drill instructors.?
Bailey, who entered the program Oct. 18, became a ‘Cobra? when he completed the first eight weeks of the program Dec.13.
He and about a dozen fellow Cobras were on hand to answer questions and talk with representatives from local organizations, county officials, and potential employers as the OCSO kicked off the Transitional Options Program (TOP), funded through congressionally mandated Bureau of Justice awards.
TOP is a newly instituted aftercare program designed to help Boot Camp graduates continue to be successful once they leave.
A 2004 recidivism study showed that five percent of the 185 graduates that year returned on felony offenses, while another 10 percent were convicted of misdemeanor crimes after leaving the program. An additional 18 percent had parole violations.
‘Those numbers explain why we pursued the funding for the TOP program, especially for the parole violations,? said Marie Snarey, Boot Camp caseworker. ‘Many times people are not able to meet the criteria the courts have set.?
Often, the courts require those leaving the system to secure employment, attend school, pay restitution, or fulfill a variety of other obligations. When parolees don’t have the resources to meet those demands, Snarey explained, they often end up back in jail.
‘When people get through the program they have a great sense of accomplishment,? said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. ‘But when they go back to the same pond afterwards, to the same friends and the same environment, it becomes difficult to maintain those changes they made.?
In a new partnership with JobLink Career Center, a Michigan Works! Agency, however, the TOP program will help participants learn to research educational options, increase job skills, secure employment, socially reintegrate, and develop other skills necessary to return to their families and communities as responsible citizens.
Although TOP requires participants to commit to an extra 30 days after the completion of Boot Camp, the program’s organizers are hoping the focus on individual choices will help increase the success of those reentering society. A good deal of time is spent helping trainees determine what they do’and don’t’want to do.
The entire OCSO, and especially the drill instructors, said Bouchard, are deeply dedicated to the success of those who spend eight difficult weeks in the Boot Camp learning to take responsibility for their own lives.
It’s difficult, he said, to see them fail merely for a lack of outside support.
‘Some times (the graduates) need someone to fall back on,? said U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills, who supported the program since the OCSO first submitted a funding proposal to his office. ‘They need a mentor, or a role model.?
According to the Sheriff’s office, the Boot Camp program returns working, tax-paying citizens to the community, thereby saving Oakland County taxpayers about $1 million and 16,000 jail bed days per year.
The program, however, does depend on outside community resources for ongoing support.
‘We need employers who are willing to work with people who’ve gone through a program like this after being incarcerated,? said Gasper Novara, a job developer with the Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency’s Prisoner Reentry Program. ‘We need employers who are willing to take a chance on people who are trying to help themselves.?
Steven Bailey has a plan to help himself.
When he comes home on Christmas Day, Bailey will spend some time with his family, then intends to leave town to learn a trade with his uncle’and to get a fresh start on life.
‘Before I came here, it was more like I was following the crowd,? he said. ‘But I’ve got a lot of motivation to change. It’s time to grow up and be a man.?