Must Have Strategies for Parents of Teens.

As a parent of two and a psychologist, I know that being a parent is one of the toughest jobs of your life. To parent a teenager- and a challenging teenager at that, you need to have really effective strategies to navigate through these years. Read More...

Interested In U.S. Military Boot Camps?

Are you interested in joining the United States Military? Follow this link to information about the different divisions of the military. The information on this page and site is not provided by any division of the military. Each division of the United States Military includes a boot camp as part of the training they offer. If you are a parent seeking information about a troubled teen boot camp stay on this site.

If you are going to join boot camp it may be important to prepare mentally. Find someone who has been through boot camp and ask for advice and tips. You may also want to go down to your local recruiting office and ask what you can do to get ready.

Are there really any free teen boot camps?

The only free teen boot camps we have found are state-funded, and can only be utilized if your teen is in the juvenile system. State-funded boot camps may appear financially to be the only option available to some people, but there are some drawbacks to be considered with this option also.

We don't have any boot camps that are free. We do have the least expensive, most cost efficient programs beginning at $3,500 per month. With good credit you can enroll your child in a program and make payments as low as $400 per month.

Help for Troubled Teens

Parents who are looking for help with troubled teens often search for bootcamps when looking for a solution. Bootcamps tend to be state correctional facilities. To be placed in a bootcamp a teen must be sentenced to go to one by a judge. Private programs tend to be behavioral boarding schools.

Short term placements are usually wilderness programs. While wilderness programs are very strict and very structured, short term programs very seldom produce long term results.

The programs that we recommend are long term boarding school type placements. These type of placements offer the program, security, structure, and time that teens need to get themselves back on track.

What is a boot camp?

A boot camp is a very strict, highly structured facility with staff that act
as drill instructors. Boot camps are usually state run correctional facilities where teens are sentenced by judges. Boot camps are only an option for teens in the criminal justice system. However there are a handful of boot camps that will take a defiant teen. Many parents ask if we have boot camp for boys and or boot camp for girls. Some boot camps are single sex and others are co-ed.

California Adoption Assistance

Teens adopted in the State of California may qualify for free tuition. Teens must have Medi-Cal insurance.

Teen Boot Camps and Military Schools

Many parents today are searching for help for their troubled youth. In a survey just completed we found the following results on searches measured by a major search engine.

Search Term: Searches Military Schools 30k. Boot Camp 31k. Behavior Modification Schools 109. Residential Treatment Centers 2,353 Specialty Schools 3,029

This confirms the fact that there is a definite interest in Military Schools and Boot Camps.

Of course, people not looking for teen boot camps but with interest in the military would be included in the search results above, which would account for some of the searches. But we believe that many parents are interested in finding structured help that includes discipline like that of the military.

With the lack of military schools available we believe that people are placing their youth in other types of placement or "settling" for something they are really not looking for. give us a call. We are confident that we can help.

What is a military school?

A military school is also a very structured environment. The students or cadets are monitored closely in this setting as well. If a teen is defiant or unruly, however, most military schools will not allow them to stay. Most military schools will not offer any refund if the teen is sent home.

Boot Camps In The News

In the last few years there have been some tragic events that transpired in boot camps. The majority of these were actually State run boot camps. This is not to say that private boot camps have not have problems also. State run boot camps are usually associated with a states juvenile system. Typically youth that are not responding to time in detention are sent to a more extreme placement, that of a boot camp. State run boot camps for the most part are being done away with.

Boarding Schools For Troubled Teens

One effective option for many parents is a more long term option. There are many Boarding Schools for Troubled Teens available today. They are an improvement on the old Boot Camp because they are long term. It us unlikely to believe that a child that has behaved one way for 10-15 years is going to change in a weekend, a week, or even a month. Long lasting change requires a long term option. It is usually better if a child can be placed in a structured environment for at least a year, but in many cases 2 years will be required to reverse his negative behavior.

Private Boot Camps

A few years ago in an effort to try to help troubled teens, private boot camps began to spring up in many areas. At the time many television programs were featuring boot camps. Some would portray a spoiled young person brought onto the set and immediately confronted by a drill sergeant. The youth was brought back on the program

A few days later upon returning from the camp and the change was dramatic. The problem was, the youth only made temporary changes, and was soon back to his old behaviors and defiant attitude.