LITCHFIELD, Conn. -- The Connecticut Junior Republic, which treats at-risk teenage boys, announced last week that it will close its Litchfield campus, costing over 100 people their jobs.

CJR representatives said one of the main reasons is fewer troubled boys are being treated in programs where they live at a facility.

PDF: CJR Press Release

With the development of more community-based and in-home services in the last few years, the population of youths who are being referred to residential programs has changed, said Gary Kleeblatt, a spokesman for DCF. As a result, he said, only youths with a more intensive level of need are now referred to the more restrictive levels of care provided in a residential program.

DCF and CJR worked together to make appropriate changes, he said. A suspension on admissions was imposed, the census was reduced, and staff training and staffing levels both increased, he said.

However, Kleeblatt said, despite these efforts and as a result of a decreased demand for the kinds of services CJR provides, it’s our understanding that CJR felt they did not have adequate numbers of children to continue in its residential program.

As a result, he said, CJR reached the conclusion that it would move in another direction and concentrate on children whose needs are appropriate for community based services.

However, the Channel 3 I-Team obtained documents that give more insight about CJR’s closing, including reports of four unannounced inspections conducted by the Department of Children and Families in November, December and January.

According to the documents, DCF said it was concerned about staff members being seldom seen checking on children, a residential cottage with overflowing outside garbage cans, a residential cottage in which some children were still in bed at 11 a.m. and a visit during which four boys tested positive for marijuana.

Another entry from the December report state that some of the boys were “reported as acting aggressive and out of control. One staff member refused to work a shift because she was being harassed by a group of boys, while another staff member was threatened to be raped by male residents.”

The I-Team also obtained a memo discussing a pair of day in early January during which Connecticut State Police had to perform sweeps and lockdowns of the campus because staff members found notes that said someone “brought a gun to CJR.” The memo states the another note said the writer was going to “shoot the principal as well as others.”

No gun was found, police said.

Another factor in the decision to close was the cost. The documents state that in at least one case, charges to keep one teen at the center for a month totaled $9,000, adding up to more than $100,000 per year.

DCF is currently engaged in transition planning to ensure that the youths at CJR receive appropriate treatment services in other settings and that this transition occurs in an orderly fashion, Kleeblatt said.

CJR, which has rehabilitated hundreds, if not thousands of teenage boys through its residential program over its 100-year history, wouldn’t comment on the documents the I-Team obtained.