Douglas County took a $97,000 step on the long road to rescuing China Spring Youth Camp. File photo by Kurt Hildebrand
Douglas County is hoping anteing up $97,000 will result in the other 15 Nevada counties using China Spring Youth Camp will see that bet and maybe even raise.
County commissioners voted last week to devote the funding to the camp to help tide it over while negotiations are underway among the other counties to find alternative funding.
The camp took a big funding cut in the last Legislature, but not as big as it could have been after lawmakers decided to gradually reduce state funding.
The youth camp located in the Pine Nut Mountains serves all by Clark County, which has its own boot-camp style facility.
Douglas County Manager Patrick Cates said that the funding will come from greater than anticipated balance in the general fund, and that the money won’t affect any other budgets.
“We want to consider funding the camp to $97,000 to really make a statement,” Cates said. “Then we can go back to the other counties and get them to make supplemental contributions as well.”
Currently, funding for the camp from the counties is based on their total school enrollment with Washoe County accounting for 60 percent of the total number of public-school students outside of Clark County.
Douglas only has about 5 percent of the total enrollment.
One proposal being negotiated by a working group is to base funding on the actual number of attendees each county sends to the camp.
Douglas does use the camp more than the other counties, and accounts for 14.4 percent of the students, compared to Washoe’s 37.11 percent.
“This is our camp,” Cates said. “It’s hosted in Douglas County. It’s a Douglas County facility.”
Cates said the eventual plan would likely use a more precise measurement like bed dates.
In addition to approving the funding for the camp, commissioners also proclaimed October 2021 as Juvenile Justice Month and recognized the camp’s 38th birthday.
“China Spring Youth Camp exists to change the lives of youth by helping female and male youth offenders develop skills, knowledge and experience to make better choices through changing their thinking and behaviors through the use of evidence-based techniques,” according to the proclamation.
