A blond-haired teen who looks no more than 15, his hair buzzed in a military cut, freely admits that he stole a car.

His friend sitting next to him on an army cot admitted to being the lookout and driver for a group of people who were breaking into cars; he was slapped with three felony charges of breaking and entering, but said he’s lucky because it could have been nine.

The boys are residents at Camp Mitnick in Walker County, a boot camp wilderness program meant to divert boys ages 12-17 with delinquent offenses from serving time with the Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS), which is “like a prison for kids,” said Cullman District Judge Kim Chaney.

Chaney helped spearhead Camp Mitnick in 1993 along with Judge David Breland of Morgan County and Judge James Brotherton of Walker County.

Today, Camp Mitnick serves youth from 13 counties.

Chaney and others involved with the camp are now in fear that it will be closed due to lack of funding.

Chaney said he has received a letter from the state indicating that under the current budget, there is no funding for the program. It is possible that DYS will no longer be able to fund the program because the Alabama Legislature has yet to pass a budget for the fiscal year that begins in October.

The program started out receiving $466,000 a year from DYS; it has been cut 12 percent annually for the past few years to its current budget of $320,000 a year.

“I think the state would be going backward to close this program. It’s more costly to send them to DYS,” said Chaney. “After being successfully funded for 22 years, we’re about to lose a vital resource that makes a difference to so many young boys.”

Chaney said that not only is it cheaper to send youthful offenders to Camp Mitnick, he said the camp is much more effective than DYS.

Camp director Ronnie Sandlin said the camp has a 75-percent success rate, meaning that after serving their sentence at the camp, the boys go home and get into no more legal trouble.

DYS, on the other hand, sees 70 percent of its formerly incarcerated youth return to juvenile court, according to Chaney.

“DYS is not as effective as Camp Mitnick,” said Walker County Judge Henry Allred, who has sentenced numerous boys to the camp. “The kids that complete this program, very rarely do you see them in juvenile court again. It’s been a lifesaver.”

Chaney said he has seen Cullman youth return from serving sentences in DYS facilities as “better criminals than when we sent them.”

Kay Bell, chief juvenile probation officer for Cullman County, said she likes to see boys on her case load get sentenced to Camp Mitnick because she knows they are in a good environment.

“I trust the program and everyone who runs it,” said Bell. “The boys thrive on the structure. They get a sense of accomplishment, a sense of pride. There are intangible things they get, but also tangible things, like the certificates they earn. Everybody doesn’t get one. They always bring them back and show them to us.”

Named for the man who donated 100 acres at a former strip mine — George Mitnick — the camp is set up like a military compound. It employs 18 people.

The boys sleep in tents that have concrete floors and are reinforced with wooden sides. Wake-up is at 4:30 a.m., followed by an hour of physical training.

They must ask permission for everything they do except “breathing and drinking,” according to the boys.

They do push-ups for minor infractions, and for major mistakes — like one boy who recently stole food — they wear an orange jumpsuit instead of the shorts and white T-shirts that the other boys wear. The jumpsuit identifies boys as potential runners: Sandlin said they are much less likely to try to run away wearing the bright orange.

To further discourage escape attempts, the residents’ shoes are placed into a locked box every night.

The residents also receive six hours of classroom instruction every day, as required by the Walker County Board of Education, according to Sandlin.

They attend class at the Mitnick campus, marching in like soldiers and standing at attention beside their desks until given permission to sit.

Candace Smith is the camp teacher. She works with each of the residents’ schools, receiving their transcript and working closely with school counselors to ensure the students will not be behind when they graduate from Camp Mitnick and return to their own schools.

In fact, she said, many of them are doing much better academically by the time they return to their own schools. The boys are required to be on the AB honor roll in order to graduate from the camp.

“So many of them start out feeling so defeated,” said Smith. “But toward the end of the program, you can see that they feel so much better about themselves because of what they have accomplished. They really thrive in the structured atmosphere.”

Besides classroom learning, Sandlin said the boys are learning other skills. They are required to wash, dry and fold their own laundry; clean all of the facilities; take turns working in the kitchen and then cleaning the chow hall after meals.

In addition, the camp is Boy Scout Troop 180 (for boys making a 180-degree turn in their lives) so they also learn scouting skills such as reading a map and compass, trying knots, starting fires and more. They earn several scout badges in the program.

That’s plenty to learn, but Sandlin said there is even more.

“The boys learn honesty and integrity,” said Sandlin. “There are a lot of consequences for misbehaving.”

One of the most severe consequences is an extended stay at the camp. The program is six weeks, but some residents stay as long as 18 or 20 weeks if they continue to break the rules.

“For a lot of the kids, it’s the first time they’ve done anything in their lives,” said Judge Allred. “They’re learning discipline and a sense of achievement.”

The boys themselves agree.

The young man who broke into several cars said he committed his crimes along with other people who were 18 or older, and they are currently doing hard time behind bars.

“If it wasn’t for this program, I’d be in Meigs or Vacca [DYS facilities],” he said. “And it wouldn’t be for six weeks; it would be for years. Here, you’re learning things. You’re getting skills that no matter where you go, you will be able to use them.”

The boy sitting beside him who stole the car also realizes that he caught a break by being sentenced to the camp.

“Being here builds your confidence. It pushes you to your limits, and then it breaks them,” he said. “It teaches you to be a leader. It teaches you dignity. They definitely make you want to get out there and make something of yourself.”

The boys said they are learning about discipline, respect, work ethic and having a good attitude. They’re also learning about spirituality by having the option to attend two religious services every week.

The young men are also realizing the value of family; both of them said they cry when reading letters from home.

“If this place doesn’t help you, you do not want to be helped,” said the boy who landed at Camp Mitnick for breaking into cars.

The Alabama Legislature ended a special session on Tuesday without solving the state’s budget shortfall.

Gov. Robert Bentley is expected to call a second special session in order to try to get a budget passed; until then, the fate of Camp Mitnick and numerous other state programs is unknown.