A new report says moving the Department of Juvenile Justice under a different state agency likely wouldn’t improve the programs it offers to incarcerated youth.
The report comes as the state Inspector General’s office says it will review mental health services being offered to children at the Bon Air Correctional Center — Virginia’s only state-run youth prison.
Research for the nonpartisan report included interviews with Department of Juvenile Justice staff, state cabinet members and national experts.
State Senator Barbara Favola is chairperson of the Commission on Youth and requested the Inspector General investigation. She said the organization and Director Amy Floriano need to put a greater focus on rehabilitation — and that the Department of Health and Human Resources is better equipped to provide those services.
“I think they have good programs," Favola says. "But in the presentation they made to the Commission on Youth, Floriano did not specifically say that each child was given a full — not just a full evaluation — but a full complement of all the services that that specific child needed.”
The report presented Wednesday indicated DJJ is currently providing rehabilitative services similar to what could be offered if the department was transferred.
State Senator David Marsden also sits on the youth commission — and previously was director of the Department of Juvenile Justice. He says the change could fix some things, but…
“I don't know if it's the right thing to do at this time in Virginia.”
The General Assembly gave DJJ a December 2024 deadline to offer an analysis of its rehabilitative services — though it hasn’t yet been published.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.