RICHMOND, Va. — State leaders are responding to CBS 6's reporting on the conditions at Virginia's youth prison, Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in Chesterfield County, after an independent assessment of the facility highlighted issues with prolonged confinement for residents, lacking supervision, and safety concerns.
A culture and safety assessment completed in spring 2024 by criminal justice consultants with The Moss Group identified many operational challenges at Bon Air, which is supervised by the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), including "an abundant lack of meaningful engagement for the youth and limited to zero time off the unit."
The report stated a majority of youth programming was paused or reformatted and residents were “restricted almost entirely to living units and report high levels of idleness and boredom.”
WATCH: Director responds to calls for investigation into Bon Air youth correctional center
The findings seemed the validate many of the concerns brought forward by advocates, parents of residents, and former Bon Air employees in recent months who have complained about extended periods of lockdowns. One former worker wrote in an employee exit interview that they felt the amount of time the juveniles spent in their rooms was "inhumane."
At the time of the report's completion, culinary, music, upholstery, vocation, and technical programs were inaccessible.
The assessment also stated that the amount of time it took DJJ to admit youth had more than tripled compared to two to three years ago, meaning youth "could serve a three to four-month longer sentence through no fault of their own."
At the root of most of the issues was "critically low" staffing levels.
“The concern is we can't rely on the old excuse of hiring. 'We don't have bodies.' We have to find a fix to rehabilitate these young folk. That's it," said Democratic Delegate Mike Jones, whose district includes Bon Air.
While Jones acknowledged the challenges of hiring correctional officers, he believes the inability to maintain staff is hampering DJJ's efforts to restore youth.
“This is really wrecking individuals’ lives. They're not giving [youth] an opportunity to get better and to work on themselves," Jones said. “That's what they don't have right now. You can't get that locked in a cell 24/7. You can't get it just being out one or two hours a day. You can't do it.”
Jones summarized the report as "heartbreaking" and criticized the governor's administration for not being transparent or forthcoming about the identified problems at Bon Air.
He suggested that if concerning conditions persist, juveniles serving sentences at Bon Air for nonviolent offenses should be released.
"Every kid that's in there that's nonviolent, we need to expedite their releases," Jones said. "They're better off out here."
According to the report, the population at Bon Air consists of "more serious offenders" and DJJ Director Amy Floriano has said in a recent board meeting that most residents there have been convicted of violent offenses on another person.
Meanwhile, Gov. Glenn Youngkin expressed confidence in his administration's abilities to improve conditions.
“I have to say, under the leadership of our Department of Juvenile Justice, the vast majority of the things that [the report] addressed, we already were starting to work on," Youngkin said.
The governor said the time period that was under review for the assessment was summer 2023 through February 2024, and during that time, DJJ said Bon Air was transitioning into new leadership.
DJJ has previously said the report did not offer new insights, and the agency was already aware of the identified problems and working to fix them.
“The follow up report, I have not seen yet, but I do know that the priority of making sure that we have quality staffing, well trained, in these facilities has been a priority I know of the team," Youngkin said.
The staffing shortage has caused current employees to report excessive overtime, fatigue, mandated draft shifts, the inability to effectively perform duties, and fewer employees to respond to emergencies.
The department said it is investigating creative recruitment strategies in an effort to increase staffing numbers.
State job listings show salaries for juvenile correctional specialists start at about $44,000.
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