A state facility that gave academic and vocational training to juvenile offenders will close its doors at the end of the month after losing state funding.

The Virginia Wilderness Institute, a 32-bed facility in Buchanan County, learned Thursday that it has fallen victim to the Commonwealth's budget shortfall.

The facility employs 30 people and is operated by the Associated Marine Institutes. All the juveniles at the facility will be transferred by the end of the month.

Since opening in 1998, the institute says 62 percent of the 400 juveniles who passed through the program have earned high school diplomas or equivalent certificates.

Russell County Sen. Phillip Puckett says when the General Assembly convenes in January, he'll fight to restore funding to the program.