Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded

The colony opened in 1910 near Lynchburg, Virginia, in Madison Heights with the goal of isolating those with mental disabilities and other qualities deemed unfit for reproduction away from society.

[4] The colony received its first patients in 1911 and by the end of the calendar year had more than 150 men who suffered from epilepsy, a condition of social abhorrence.

"[15] Additionally, the facility functioned as an assisted living center and held classes for some of its patients with the hope of eventual community placement.

[2] Starting in 2008, the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division launched an investigation into the quality of CVTC and three other state-run care facilities throughout Virginia.

The investigation lasted three years, and found multiple inadequacies in the care of disabled persons within CVTC, including the failure to develop a sufficient quantity of community-based alternatives for individuals with complex needs, improper allocation of funds for community-based programs, and a flawed discharge program which did not sufficiently prepare patients for discharge from the facility and integration into the community.

Specific violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 include unnecessary institutionalization of patients into segregated settings, exposed to repeated accidents and injuries, inadequate dietary and physical support, and the undue use of restraint mechanisms found during the 2008-2009 visits to the facility.

[16] As part of a settlement reached from the investigation into the quality of care and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, in 2012 then-governor Bob McDonnell announced the facility would close by 2020 and the former residents resettled.

[19] As of 2022, the buildings stand abandoned, and the land is in the planning stages of redevelopment into a medium-density urban hub for the neighboring town of Madison Heights.