Boot camp move won’t affect jobs

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Moving the Youthful Offender Program, formerly known as the boot camp, from the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp in Newcastle to other facilities will not negatively impact staff in Newcastle, according to information provided in an email from the Wyoming Department of Corrections. 
“No staff will lose their jobs at the Newcastle facility,” the email says. “Staff will be utilized as we determine how the department can best use the facility that has been the boot camp.” 
The program is slated to move to the Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins and a unit at the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk, the information states. 
When the move will happen is unknown, according to Paul Martin, a deputy administrator for the Wyoming Department of Corrections. In an email to the News Letter Journal, Martin reported that the move has been proposed to the Legislature, and if approved, the move would not take place until after July 1. 
“The program for the men is being moved to the WSP to better utilize the space the Department of Corrections has available,” the email says. “In the past few years, we have not had enough young men to fill the space, so we are relocating the program to a unit within a different prison. The women have previously been sent out of state to states that have youthful offender programs to participate in their program.” 
The space currently housing the program at the Newcastle facility will likely be used as a substance abuse treatment unit for female offenders, the email states. This should prevent the department from being forced to send females to county jails in the state due to overcrowding at the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk. 
“These moves should allow WDOC to house all Wyoming inmates in WDOC facilities,” the email concludes. 
The Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp now houses 223 inmates, with 79 staff members.