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.
Update: In October, CSG Justice Center staff executed Vermont’s sixth post-enactment Justice Reinvestment II Working Group Meeting. To prepare, CSG Justice Center staff met with stakeholders to inform the discussion and policy options ahead of the October 12 meeting.
On October 12, Vermont working group members met to receive data monitoring updates, discuss parole for older adults, and address areas for reinvestment.
CSG Justice Center staff provided working group members with information on how other states are addressing their aging prison populations other than compassionate release (this was a result of a request from the August meeting). Members were then asked to evaluate policy recommendations as tasked in Act 148; they were given three options but instead created and settled on a fourth hybrid option. Members also reviewed areas for reinvestment to support future Justice Reinvestment efforts. Those efforts included asking the legislature to consider reinvestment and/or up-front investments in domestic violence, data collection, community-based mental health and substance use services, and supportive housing. Working group members supported reinvestment in all the areas identified.
Priority Area 2: Implement presumptive parole, earned good time, and furlough status consolidation.
Update: In October, CSG Justice Center staff continued to meet regularly with the DOC and Parole Board staff and leadership to discuss ongoing implementation. In addition, the Parole Board received its second subaward-funded training on the use of its new risk and need assessment tool and how to use results to inform the setting of conditions for people released on parole, including presumptive parole.
Priority Area 3: Evaluate the current use of sanctions and incentives and recommend improvements to increase adherence to evidence-based practices.
Update: No update.
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.
Update: In October, the AHS paused the internal working group to allow the DOC to first focus on the implementation of a supervision model focused on criminogenic intervention strategies in which clinicians will support supervision staff in working with people who have complex needs. This stems from a Justice Reinvestment II Working Group recommendation related to care coordination. As a result of this work, the technical assistance from Policy Research Associates is also paused; however, they will remain available until the end of the project period should their assistance be needed.
CSG Justice Center staff also continued to work with ACJI and AHS to finalize a plan for cross-agency implementation training funded through the subaward.
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.
Update: No Update
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.
Update: In October, CSG Justice Center staff prepared for the upcoming November 17 meeting by analyzing criminal history data and incorporating the data into the project’s main results. A comprehensive review of the project’s programming code in Stata and R was completed to ensure accuracy. Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff made progress on completing aspects of the presentation, such as the recommendations.
The Racial Disparities in the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Advisory Panel (RDAP) met in October; the report to the legislature regarding the Office of Justice Statistics is still a work in progress. Members of the working group are continuing to have robust discussions about the role of the office, its duties to other research entities, and where it will be housed.
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