CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — A new extensive report from Virginia's watchdog agency resulted in lacking evidence that residents at Bon Air Juvenile Correction Center have been receiving adequate care, according to the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG).
While the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has characterized the report's findings as documentation based and having no impact on actual resident outcomes, one advocate described them as affirming of the complaints that advocacy groups have been raising for more than a year.
"The dedicated staff at Bon Air JCC have long-suffered misconceptions and unsubstantiated allegations from entities lacking in-depth knowledge of the workings of the Department or Bon Air. It is refreshing to see, that even after a large team of people dedicated months solely to reviewing the activities at Bon Air, many of the allegations lobbed against the facility and facility staff were unsubstantiated," DJJ said in a written statement upon the release of the report.
“My first reaction was relief — relief that the voices of the families, the voices of the residents, and even staff members were finally being validated," said Valerie Slater, who leads the nonprofit group RISE for Youth.
Bon Air, located in Chesterfield County, serves as Virginia's only youth prison. It houses about 180 young people aged 14-20 who have been convicted of mostly serious crimes. According to DJJ Director Amy Floriano, 76% of the population have committed crimes against another person.
Over the past year, some advocates, lawmakers, and even local emergency officials have raised public concerns about perceived safety issues within the facility. CBS 6 previously reported on 2024 evaluation of Bon Air by external consultants that revealed "critically low staffing levels" had led to unsatisfied employees, increased confinement among residents, limited rehabilitative programming, and unsafe conditions.
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Responding in part to what they characterized as "disturbing reports," state lawmakers on the Commission on Youth in April requested an independent investigation of the conditions at Bon Air. In May, Governor Glenn Youngkin directed the inspector general's office to complete a special review of the facility's operations.
The scope of the audit was contained to reviewing "operations, adequacy of staffing, resident programming, and resident mental health services." The OSIG team analyzed data from July 2024 through August 2025, and staff performed unannounced inspections from June 2025 through October 2025.
OSIG's final report showed there was lacking evidence to prove staff at Bon Air were performing wellness checks on youth confined in their rooms as required, lacking documentation to show that residents were getting daily exercise, and limited mental health services being provided to youth.
Inspectors found therapeutic services were not provided in a timely or appropriate fashion, due to insufficient clinical staff, which may compromise rehabilitative outcomes.
Of resident records reviewed by OSIG:
- 100% did not receive all their sex offender group treatment sessions
- 82% did not receive all their individual therapy sessions
- 67% did not receive substance abuse therapy appropriately and on time
- 64% did not receive aggression management therapy appropriately and on time
"By not providing therapeutic services in a timely and appropriate manner, treatment integrity and resident rehabilitation outcomes are comprised, potentially delaying progress, increasing the risk of behavioral relapse, and reducing Bon Air’s ability to meet its clinical and rehabilitative mandates," the report stated.
In response to this finding, DJJ referred to those risks as "speculated outcomes" and emphasized the identified gaps were based on documentation rather than actual resident outcomes. Additionally, the agency said documentation does not reflect that delivery of programs can be impacted by the fluid nature of individualized mental health treatment and that desginated officials can waive DJJ procedures when necessary.
However, Slater had a different takeaway from the finding.
"What it tells me is that they are not effectively providing services, and if you are not providing services, how can you then claim to be effectively rehabilitating young people?" Slater said.
Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington), who chairs the Commission on Youth, said she too was "alarmed" by the statistics.
"That means the youth had been detained longer than what had been recommended in the guidelines for their particular offense, simply because Bon Air could not provide the mental health services, the educational services, the job training services, everything that's needed to really give that youth an opportunity to succeed," Favola said.
However, DJJ's response said an analysis of 2023 length of stay guidelines showed the vast majority of residents enrolled in aggression management and substance abuse treatment completed their treatment prior to their late release date, "indicating no extension in commitment length was necessary as a result of treatment delivery."
Other OSIG findings included vocational and post-secondary programming — such as HVAC and plumbing classes — being "often unavailable" due to insufficient staffing, a lack of documented emergency preparedness, a fragmented health records system that poses risks to resident safety, and "high rates" of students missing school and/or showing up late.
“Inconsistent attendance and tardiness diminish residents’ access to learning opportunities, hinder educational progress, and may lead to noncompliance with state academic standards. Incomplete or inaccurate attendance documentation limits Bon Air’s ability to correctly monitor engagement, identify systemic barriers, and ensure accountability in its educational program. Beyond compliance, poor attendance and engagement can have broader implications for rehabilitation outcomes," the report said.
Inspectors could not verify whether past staffing assignments were sufficient to maintain operations due to a lack of documentation; however, OSIG said it did not observe Bon Air violating minimum staffing requirements during its on-site inspections. It noted that the facility utilized the "drafting" of employees to work extra hours in order to maintain adequate coverage.
High turnover and short tenure of staff, which have steadily gotten worse since 2021, undermined workforce stability and service delivery, according to the report. OSIG cited some contributing factors out of DJJ's control such as low salaries due to limited funding and the unique challenges of working in a juvenile correctional environment.
The report praised DJJ for its recent hiring events, and Floriano wrote in a letter to Inspector General Michael Westfall that her agency has been working tirelessly to address staffing issues including "trying everything from signing bonuses, retention bonuses, focusing on marketing and advertising, and hiring an outside consulting company."
Floriano's letter stated she began noticing the results of recruitment efforts over the summer, but the agency declined to share its current vacancy rate with CBS 6. That figure was also not included in OSIG's report. The legislature's research arm said Bon Air's vacancy rate was 51% in fiscal year 2024.
Favola acknowledged the resource constraints that DJJ faces and said lawmakers will be introducing a budget proposal to increase funding to hire more mental health professionals.
"I understand there were challenges. I understand that Bon Air had been underfunded for many years. I understand they've had challenges hiring staff. We need to help fix that," Favola said.
In a press release responding to the inspector general report, DJJ said, "We are proud to relay that all of the OSIG findings are related to documentation and resource deficiencies and do not reflect or support a lapse in supervision or service delivery to the detriment of any youth in our care."
Floriano said in her letter, "While their review noted a number of areas for procedural improvement, OSIGs investigation confirmed that the allegations against Bon Air JCC were unfounded."
DJJ did not specify to CBS 6 which allegations it believes were unfounded by OSIG's audit, but Floriano's letter referred to no evidence of "instances of harm, mistreatment or danger" being uncovered.
Slater said she was disappointed that "the department failed to acknowledge that things are not right at Bon Air."
"I could almost go back to the several comments given at the DJJ board meetings. I could go back to the many letters and other reports from parents, and I could check off one by one each of the issues raised by residents, staff and by family members — I could check each off in these findings," Slater said. “Are we not reading the same report? Are you just unwilling to acknowledge what is even written before you by the Inspector General? At what point are you willing to take true accountability?”
Favola said DJJ's response was unsurprising and "not good enough."
Moving forward, Favola said she hopes the incoming Spanberger administration, which will ultimately be responsible for continuing to implement OSIG's recommendations, will take the findings seriously.
Additionally, she said Commission on Youth members will pursue legislation that would elevate community diversion programs in an effort to keep youth out of Bon Air, convene a work group to study reducing isolation for residents at the facility, potentially establish independent ombudsman oversight, and require court approval in order to extend a resident's sentence.
CBS 6 requested an interview with a DJJ official for this story, but a spokesperson referred back to the agency's written statements.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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