RICHMOND, Va. — Eight girls living at Hallmark Youthcare, an adolescent psychiatric residential treatment center in Goochland, assaulted a staff member, took their keys, and escaped the facility early Sunday morning, according to CBS 6 Crime Insider Jon Burkett.
Virginia State Police and other area law enforcement agencies canvassed the area and ultimately located all eight girls and returned them to Hallmark.
The mother of one of the girls, who asked not to be identified to protect her daughter's safety inside the facility, woke up around 8 a.m. Sunday to a missed call from her daughter's social worker.
"The only thing they could tell me was that she had left, and that the state police were notified, and they were looking for her," the mother said.
"Unbelievable," the mother said, describing the agonizing wait for news.
After the incident, the mother said her daughter told her the girls left because they did not feel safe.
"I was so infuriated that she left, but then she told me, 'Mom, I'm not safe here, I'm not safe here, Mom, I just want to come home,'" the mother said.
The mother said she hoped her daughter would get the help she needs at Hallmark Youthcare, but just two weeks into her stay, she says she no longer has confidence the facility can keep her daughter safe.
"There has to be a better way. There has to be more protection for these kids," she said.
The incident is the latest in a series of safety concerns at the facility CBS 6 has been investigating since September 2025. A grandmother CBS 6's Melissa Hipolit spoke to at that time said her grandson told her he felt suicidal at Hallmark because he was fearful of being hurt by other patients.
Virginia State Police have charged a teenage resident with sexually assaulting another underage resident at Hallmark in April of last year. A second sex assault investigation from May of last year remains open.
Hallmark Youthcare sent CBS 6 a statement that reads in part:
"We take this incident extremely seriously. Hallmark Youthcare has taken steps to initiate a thorough internal review of the circumstances surrounding the incident and is cooperating with law enforcement and appropriate oversight agencies."
Virginia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, which has the authority to license and sanction providers like Hallmark, is investigating the incident.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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