The Maxine Singer Youth Guidance Center, better known as Camp Singer, is a minimum-security facility adjacent to the Yuba-Sutter Juvenile Hall (separated from it by a tall fence). It houses a maximum of 48 male and 12 female juvenile offenders. Courts may sentence juvenile offenders to serve in Camp Singer as a milder alternative to juvenile hall.

Camp Singer residents live in a dormitory setting with individual cubicles rather than cells. Females and younger males are separated from older males. Residents participate in 90-day or 210-day "boot camp" programs that include counseling, anger management instruction, and 240 minutes of classroom instruction daily. Teachers and staff award points for good behavior, and residents can "buy" special privileges with the points they accrue.

Camp Singer also provides a 12-step program for alcohol and drug abuse, both for its own resident offenders and for residents of the Yuba-Sutter Juvenile Hall.

The dining hall located between Camp Singer and the juvenile hall serves the residents of both facilities, but at different times of day, so that the residents of the two facilities do not meet.

History

Camp Singer is named for Maxine Singer, a noted Yuba County Chief Probation Officer for 22 years. It was built in 1996 with grant money from Colusa County, so Colusa County is guaranteed some of the bed space in Camp Singer for its juvenile offenders. It began as a 12-bed facility for males only; the original 12-bed unit was converted for use by female offenders when the newer 48-bed unit was built for male offenders.

Links

Sutter County: Juvenile Hall - Maxine Singer Youth Guidance Center Yuba County: Probation Department - Detention Services Yuba Courts: 2006-2007 Yuba County Grand Jury Final Report

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