GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. — A former youth counselor at Hallmark Youthcare says a resident fractured his nasal bone on the same day at least eight girls escaped the Goochland County adolescent psychiatric residential treatment facility.
Brian Wettstone took a job at Hallmark in April, motivated by his own experiences with mental health struggles.
"I've had my own background with depression, anxiety, and such, and I wanted to help people grow out of that since I had healed from a lot of all that as a past," Wettstone said.
The Henrico resident acknowledged hearing concerns about the facility before he started but wanted to see it for himself.
"Many concerns were raised, but I wanted to see it for myself," Wettstone said.
CBS 6 has been reporting on safety concerns at Hallmark Youthcare since September 2025.
Just 10 weeks into the job, Wettstone left Hallmark and never went back.
On July 5, a resident punched him in the nose, fracturing his nasal bone. Wettstone showed CBS 6 workers' compensation documentation from Patient First that documents the injury.
"I was standing at the door from my unit that leads to outside, and without much warning or understanding of purpose, one of the residents just ran up to me and punched me in the nose hard enough to draw blood and break the nose," Wettstone said.
July 5 is also the same day at least 8 girls escaped Hallmark. A Goochland County lieutenant said in an email to the state agency that licenses Hallmark that while the girls were escaping, male juveniles housed in a separate wing overpowered a staff member and stole another master key set.
Wettstone said he called a code over the radio as the escape was unfolding.
"I said, 'Code yellow Maple,' which means there's a psychiatric emergency on the Maple unit, the unit of boys that I was assigned to. When I was doing that, there was the — the escape was happening," Wettstone said.
"Because of that, no one was able to respond to my call on the walkie-talkie," Wettstone said.
When law enforcement arrived to help, the male juveniles became unruly and assaulted several staff members. Wettstone said he was in charge of 16 boys at the time and believes there was not enough staff to handle the situation.
"That was the end for me because you should not — as I hold my employer to a standard — you should not allow me to be in harm's way. There should be measures in place so that I don't get hurt. I should have backup if I call for backup," Wettstone said.
The very next day, five male juveniles escaped from Hallmark after forcing open a door. CBS 6 spoke with one of them, Antoine Robinson Jr., and his father several days later. Robinson's father said no child should be able to escape a facility like Hallmark and that security should be "top-notch."
Wettstone said his heart goes out to Robinson.
"Antoine Robinson was a good kid, surrounded by a lot of chaos, lack of love, lack of support, surrounded by a lot of situations where mental health conditions were getting worse, not better, in the facility," Wettstone said.
When asked whether Hallmark was an environment where kids could get better, Wettstone was direct.
"No, absolutely not. I have no idea how a resident would improve from major depressive disorder, anxiety, or anything to that effect, if they were separated from their family, separated from, and thrown into an environment where they weren't — they weren't loved, they weren't cared for, they weren't even respected by a lot of the staff," Wettstone said.
He said the facility also failed to keep kids and staff safe.
"No, no. There was no security team," Wettstone said. "Security should be top notch, I think, and it wasn't. There was little protection for the kids, from each other, from staff, from any threat that may come their way."
A spokesperson for Hallmark Youthcare told CBS 6 that since the events of July 5 and 6, there has been a leadership change. Elyssia Stratton is no longer Hallmark's CEO. Kathy Bolmer is now the interim CEO.
The spokesperson said: "Her appointment is one of several actions Hallmark has taken following recent resident safety incidents. Additional measures include enhanced onsite security support; individualized resident safety assessments; increased staffing resources and leadership presence; facility improvements designed to support security and appropriate supervision; and continued coordination with state licensing agencies and other oversight partners."
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