Black youths were more than twice as likely to be referred to Virginia’s juvenile justice system as their White peers, even as the number of teens in statewide programs and detention centers has plunged more than 70 percent over the past decade, according to a new report by a state watchdog.

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       The wide-ranging analysis — one of the most probing looks at how the state handles young offenders in years — also found many teens are not receiving quality legal representation, recidivism is high among youths at juvenile detention centers because rehabilitation programs are ineffective, and state and local officials are paying for facilities where 70 percent of beds are unoccupied.

       The report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) to the state legislature and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) also recommended closing the Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center, the state’s last juvenile prison, and replacing it with smaller facilities scattered across the state that would keep youths closer to parents and allow more space for treatment.

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       The report’s findings were not all negative: The authors concluded that a plan to transform juvenile justice put in place by the Virginia legislature in 2016 had reduced the number of youths in the system and cut recidivism rates for low-risk offenders.

       Valerie Slater, executive director of Rise for Youth, a group that advocates for teens in the juvenile justice system, said she was particularly troubled by the racial disparities the report found. The report concluded Black youths were 2.5 times as likely over the past decade to be placed in the juvenile justice system, a trend that was the same for prison and felonies.

       The racial disparity exists in every jurisdiction across the state, but it was far higher in some counties — including Arlington — than others, according to the report. Law enforcement officials were also more likely to refer Black youths to the juvenile justice system than schools, and probation and parole officers.

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       The report recommended that the General Assembly implement more training requirements aimed at combating the racial disparity issue, but Slater said the issue called for a more systemic examination.

       Slater encouraged officials to “put in place some fail safes from the police and their arrest procedures, to court services sending the arrest petition, on to judges and how they are treating kids in the courtroom, and finally to the prosecutors and defense attorneys.”

       The authors of the report also interviewed judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, who said youths were often getting substandard legal representation. Those interviewed said the problems were most prevalent with court-appointed attorneys, who are paid far less than in other states. Some attorneys did not have a firm grasp on juvenile law and sometimes spent little time with clients before representing them in court.

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       The report found a nearly 70 percent recidivism rate among youths released from detention centers around Virginia, leading the authors to conclude rehabilitation programs overseen by the state’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) weren’t particularly effective. Similarly, the report concluded the DJJ could do a better job on helping youth offenders return to communities.

       Greg Davy, a spokesman for the DJJ, said the department is addressing issues identified by the report but disagreed with some conclusions.

       “Many of the DJJ specific recommendations are things that we agree with and have been working on,” Davy wrote in an email. “Progress is noted in some areas and we continually report on areas that need more work.”

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       With the precipitous drop in the population of the juvenile justice system, the report found that the state’s detention centers are now only 30 percent full and that officials have not moved to close facilities, so costs per juvenile in the system have ballooned as a result. Virginia’s juvenile detention centers have more beds than any other state in the region, according to the report.

       JLARC oversees state agencies in Virginia and in November 2020 directed staff to write the report.