BAY MINETTE, Alabama -- A juvenile rehabilitation program designed for therapeutic treatment of girls may see sweeping changes including a focus on boys instead, according to discussions Tuesday.

Jennifer Lee, who directs the Baldwin County Juvenile Detention Center and the Camp Horizon Girls Wilderness Program, told commissioners during Tuesday's work session that a downturn in the center's revenue is a reflection of fewer girls in juvenile court. She said demand is for boys programs with male teens outnumbering their female counterparts in the court system by a margin of 4 to 1.

"This proposal would make the program better utilized by Baldwin County and provide a much needed facility for boys," Lee said. "Last year our wait list started to die off. We had an average of 29 girls last year and this year we are tracking at 26. Although today we have 28. I think the girls program is a great success and will continue to be a strong service provider for the county, however, there is a vacancy of services for the volume of boys in this county."

Lee proposed converting the facility’s 32-bed cabin to use as a center for boys, followed by the addition of a 16-bed facility for girls on site. The conversion would cost about $1.5 million and would require additional personnel, according to the proposal. If current trends continue, according to records, the plan would pay for itself in about 10 years.

"I think it is too high," said Commissioner Tucker Dorsey referring to the cost after the meeting, "but we sent her out with instructions to tighten up the finances and timeline for her plan."

The Wilderness Program operates from a $4.1 million facility on 190 acres in the northeastern part of Baldwin County between Lottie and the Escambia County, Ala., line. The girls help take care of the facility, which includes two cabins and a kitchen.

The residential program handles up to 32 girls age 13 to 18 who come primarily from Baldwin and Mobile counties. The facility, however, also takes girls from Escambia and Conecuh counties, and sometimes from as far away as Tuscaloosa in the eight-county service area.

The program is funded though cigarette tax revenue each year totaling about $315,000 along with Medicaid billing for the rehabilitation services.

The program began in March 2007 to help teenage girls who end up before a judge for uncontrollable or illegal behavior. But by the end of its first year, the program was floundering with hundreds of thousands in losses, followed by deeper debt in 2008.

Lee’s presentation Tuesday indicated the program ended 2008 with $234,054 in the red. In 2009, the program saw turnaround when the county started billing Medicaid for therapeutic services provided, ending the year with a surplus of $243,382. That jumped to $679,970 in 2010, but by last year, the program was $165,000 in the red.