GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. — Children are being transferred out of a psychiatric residential treatment facility — some returning home — after state regulators stepped in and ordered a sweeping safety overhaul at Hallmark Youthcare in Goochland County.
CBS 6 has been investigating safety concerns at the facility since September of last year.
DBHDS spokesperson Lauren Cunningham said that in response to an escalation in concerns, the agency met with Hallmark's leadership regarding immediate corrective actions that needed to be taken and temporarily established a continuous on-site presence at the facility.
Cunningham said the facility removed several members of Hallmark's leadership from their positions, contracted a third-party operator to temporarily oversee the facility, reduced the number of youth at the facility, implemented various safety measures, and improved facility security.
Cunningham also said all children in foster care have been transitioned out of the facility.
The state has also consulted with parents and guardians of children placed in Hallmark who are not in foster care to ensure those children are safely transferred to other settings, including back home.
DBHDS previously said it was investigating Hallmark after more than a dozen juveniles ran away from the facility over two days in July. CBS 6 investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit has been asking the agency for an update since that time.
Among those who had called for state action was Antoine Robinson Sr., whose 15-year-old son escaped Hallmark and made it all the way to Virginia Beach.
"Deep investigation," Robinson said. "Somebody needs to look into something to see what was going on, because maybe maybe that program shouldn't even be running right now."
Watch: Father and son speak out as Virginia psychiatric facility vows changes
Antoine Robinson Jr. is now living back with his father.
"I just hope my son don't have to return there never again. Cause I don't want him to go through that no more. So I just do what I got to do as his father to keep him out here with me," Robinson said.
Over the past year, CBS 6 has shared the voices of grandparents, parents, a teen who lived at Hallmark, an advocacy group suing the facility, and a former staff member who suffered a broken nose on the job — all of whom raised significant safety concerns about the facility and called for action from DBHDS.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
