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Priority Area 1: Reconvene the Justice Reinvestment II Working Group to monitor implementation and develop additional policy recommendations for improving post-prison treatment, services, and supervision.
Background: Act 148 (S.338) call for the Justice Reinvestment II Working Group to reconvene with the addition of a representative from the parole board. In addition to overseeing the implementation of Act 148, the working group is also tasked with identifying gaps in behavioral health services for individuals in the criminal justice system; determining how to share risk assessment and programming information to inform plea agreements, sentencing, and revocation decisions; studying presumptive probation; evaluating earned good time for individuals on probation; exploring the use of probation midpoint reviews in reducing supervision terms; and evaluating parole eligibility for older adults prior to meeting their minimum sentence.

Act 148 requires the working group to make policy recommendations to the House and Senate Judiciary and House Corrections by January 15, 2021, and again by January 15, 2022.

Update: In June, CSG Justice Center staff helped execute the first major Justice Reinvestment II Working Group meeting since the 2021 legislative session began. To prepare, CSG Justice Center staff met remotely with a variety of Vermont stakeholders ahead of this June 15 meeting to inform the agenda.

On June 15, Vermont state leaders resumed working group meetings to discuss the outcomes of the legislative session and other work executed since their last meeting, learn about the CSG Justice Center’s racial equity analysis plan, and determine the scope of work for the next three working group meetings.

CSG Justice Center staff presented on the results of the recommendations the working group made to the legislature in January 2021 and the resulting legislation and administrative policy changes. Working group members also received information about the subaward application and had a robust discussion on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Vermont’s prison admission and community supervision population. Members also reviewed an introduction to racial equity analysis that will be conducted by CSG Justice Center staff over the remainder of 2021, which also prompted members to ask questions about Black/White disparities. Further, working group members set the following priorities for their remaining 2021 meetings:

1. Evaluating the policy of parole eligibility for older adults in prison who are not serving a sentence of life without parole
2. Continuing the racial equity analysis and discussing factors that lead to sentencing disparities
3. Identifying the changes to the prison and supervision populations and how the COVID-19 pandemic has played a role
4. Developing funding recommendations for the upcoming budget cycle

At the meeting, members received updates from the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence on progress made toward Vermont’s Justice Reinvestment site-based grant award focusing on domestic violence. Additionally, the Department of Corrections (DOC) discussed their efforts to improve transitional housing across the state. DOC is undertaking large administrative changes to their transitional housing contracts based on research that CSG Justice Center staff shared with the working group during JRI Phase I in 2019.

Priority Area 2: Implement presumptive parole, earned good time, and furlough status consolidation.
Background: Act 148 included three primary policy reforms to improve outcomes for people on post-prison supervision and prioritize bed space for people who have been convicted of the most serious offenses. First, the act established a new presumptive parole process for individuals with qualifying convictions who have served their minimum sentence and meet programming and behavior requirements. Qualifying convictions during initial implementation include most nonviolent offenses prior to an eligibility expansion in 2023. Second, the act expanded the amount of earned time a person could accrue from 5 to 7 days. And third, it streamlined Vermont’s 17 different furlough legal statuses, all with unique administrative requirements and created a primary furlough status called “Community Supervision Furlough” to improve clarity in release expectations for people in custody, victims, and Department of Corrections (DOC) staff. The act also creates a review process with expanded due process for furlough returns or revocations over 90 days.

Update: In June, CSG Justice Center staff continued to meet regularly with DOC and parole board staff and leadership to discuss ongoing implementation.

Priority Area 3: Evaluate the current use of sanctions and incentives and recommend improvements to increase adherence to evidence-based practices.
Background: During Phase I, Vermont’s Justice Reinvestment II Working Group found inconsistencies in how community supervision officers respond to non-compliance, as well as data collection challenges that limited the DOC’s ability to fully monitor the implementation of sanctions and incentives. Act 148 requires the DOC to conduct further analysis and report back to the legislature on ways to strengthen the use of sanctions and incentives to ensure they reflect best practices in reducing recidivism and encouraging behavior change. This includes exploring regular data collection and analysis processes to inform policy and practice changes, as well as monitor implementation.

Update: In June, Vermont’s subaward application was approved by BJA. As a result, DOC initiated the state fiscal approval and contracting processes so that work can begin on improvements to DOC’s data system, including the development of new modules to better track sanctions and incentives, along with other subaward spending priorities. This state grant approval process may take a couple of months before Vermont can spend subaward funding.

Priority Area 4: Analyze current policy and practice to identify ways to improve assessment processes, care coordination, information sharing, and case management for people in the criminal justice system who have complex behavioral health issues.
Background: During Phase I, the Justice Reinvestment II Working Group identified gaps in data and information sharing that created challenges in identifying and serving people in the criminal justice system who have complex behavioral health needs, including opioid addiction. Act 148 requires the Agency of Human Services (AHS) to report on current processes for identifying people with behavioral health needs who are incarcerated or under supervision to the working group by December 1, 2020. The working group is then tasked with using this information to develop policy and practice changes to improve assessment processes, care coordination, information sharing, and case management across criminal justice and behavioral health system providers. The working group is required to report their findings and recommendations to the legislature by January 1, 2021.

Update: In June, CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions with AHS and DOC leadership as they met weekly to adapt the Vermont Chronic Care Initiative model for a criminal justice involved population with complex behavioral health needs. This internal group continues to receive technical assistance through a subcontract with Policy Research Associates who meets regularly with CSG Justice Center staff to discuss and strategize about how to support the group’s work.

CSG Justice Center staff also presented on the AHS internal group’s progress at the Justice Reinvestment II Working Group meeting in June.
Priority Area 5: Increase criminal justice data collection and analysis capacity and establish outcome measures and regular data monitoring to track the implementation progress of Act 148.
Background: Vermont has continued to encounter data collection lapses and analysis gaps that often limit the state’s ability to comprehend and address the state’s public safety and behavioral health challenges. Justice Reinvestment II provides an opportunity for Vermont to use technical assistance to improve the use and accessibility of data while supporting implementation and creating plans for capacity building.
Update: In June, CSG Justice Center staff continued to receive data monitoring reports from DOC and the parole board. With the approval of Vermont’s subaward application, DOC initiated the state fiscal approval and contracting processes so that DOC can begin to make upgrades to their data system that will allow them to increase the amount of data they can report.

CSG Justice Center staff also presented a portion of DOC’s initial data monitoring report to the Justice Reinvestment II Working Group on June 15 and facilitated a conversation about how to help stakeholders understand the changes in Vermont’s corrections population since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and how this will impact tracking implementation outcomes.
Priority Area 6: Assist in creating standards to examine the data collection, monitoring, and evaluation process, especially as it concerns disparate outcomes for different demographic groups.
Background: Section 19 of Act 148 focuses on examining the racial disparities within the criminal justice system. The act directs the Racial Disparities in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System Advisory Panel (RDAP), the executive director of racial equity, the chief superior judge, the attorney general, the defender general, the DOC, and the executive director of the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs to work with the Crime Research Group (Vermont-based nonprofit research agency) and the state’s Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) to identify available data and perform an initial analysis of demographic factors and sentencing outcomes.

Upon examination of the data, RDAP is then tasked with reporting to the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee and Vermont Sentencing Commission by December 1, 2020. The Sentencing Commission is then charged with reviewing the report findings and making recommendations regarding changes to sentencing structures and nonbinding sentencing guidance. The commission must report by February 26, 2021, to House/Senate Judiciary and House Corrections and Institutions.

Update: In June, Vermont enacted Act 65, which directs the Racial Disparities in the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Advisory Panel to determine where a potential new Bureau of Racial Justice Statistics should be situated, the extent it should be staffed, the mission, data collection and analysis, and how to enforce its methods. These efforts are the result of a required study and report in Vermont’s Justice Reinvestment legislation

Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff continued to work on the racial equity analysis. CSG Justice Center staff continued to work with the judiciary and the Department of Public Safety to obtain additional data to inform the quantitative analysis. Based on the data currently available, CSG Justice Center staff were able to conduct a quantitative analysis of court system data, and preliminary results have been identified, which should be bolstered by additional data once it is received.