20210127-23219-17

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: Throughout December, CSG Justice Center staff continued to meet with Vermont stakeholders in an effort to further inform the January 11 working group meeting. The meetings allowed stakeholders to debrief on the November 24 meeting, which focused on behavioral health, earned credits for people on probation, and appropriation opportunities. Stakeholders discussed how to cultivate better information sharing to impact behavioral health, strengthening midpoint review for people on probation, and identifying further resources for reinvestment. In addition, CSG Justice Center staff presented the behavioral health and reinvestment sections of the November 24 working group presentation at the Joint Justice Legislative Oversight Committee meeting in early December. After the presentation, committee members asked questions related to behavioral health, access to community service providers, and areas of reinvestment.
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 to further incentivize behavior change. And third, it consolidated the more than 30 different furlough legal statuses, all with unique administrative requirements, to 3 to improve clarity in release expectations for people in custody, victims, and DOC staff. The act also creates a review process with expanded due process for furlough returns or revocations over 90 days.

Update: CSG Justice Center staff attended weekly meetings with the DOC and Parole Board to support the implementation of presumptive parole throughout December. CSG Justice Center staff continued to organize and facilitate joint meetings between the two Vermont agencies to discuss their individual internal planning efforts and shared implementation challenges. When necessary, iterative feedback was provided on the agencies’ proposed processes, which includes their plans for data collection and staff training. Presumptive parole and the furlough consolidation went into effect January 1.

In addition, CSG Justice Center staff also supported the DOC and Parole Board as they determined areas for potential Category 1 and 2 subaward funding.

In December, CSG Justice Center staff also provided support and served as a resource to state leaders as they sought to navigate challenges to the earned good time policy from crime victims. This policy change was agreed upon by the Phase I working group and key state leaders, including victim advocacy groups, the attorney general, and the office of states attorneys. However, individual victims found out about the new policy through an unexpected victim notification process in the fall. Following the requests of state representatives, including legislative champions and the Vermont Attorney General, CSG Justice Center staff provided information on how other states adapted earned good time laws for more serious offense types and addressed carve-outs for certain offenses. Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff engaged victim advocates about the details of the ongoing notification process. As it stands, the earned good time policy outlined in Act 148 will go into effect January 1, but there is an expectation that new legislation will be introduced to carve out the most serious offenses in this upcoming legislative session.
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: CSG Justice Center staff continued to discuss ways to improve the tracking of sanctions and incentives with DOC, including data system improvements using 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: Throughout December, CSG Justice Center staff continued weekly meetings with staff from AHS. CSG Justice Center staff engaged AHS and DOC in the development of several options for the working group to consider in its January 11 meeting related to improving behavioral health services for people on supervision

CSG Justice Center staff also connected leadership and staff from DOC, the Department of Mental Health (DMH), and the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs (ADAP), AHS, and Parole Board with Alliance for Community & Justice Innovation (ACJI). The Alliance for Community & Justice Innovation is a future-focused organization concentrating on the impact of people, culture, leadership, and data on the transformational change of individuals, organizations, and systems. Based on the work that has been accomplished by ACJI, CSG Justice Center staff prompted agency leaders to consider whether they might be a good fit to help Vermont agencies create a better organizational structure and reduce silos through organizational cross-training provided through subaward funding.

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: CSG Justice Center staff continued to make iterative changes to a draft of state monitoring measures based on input from DOC and the Parole Board.

Priority Area 6: Assist in creating standards to examine the data collection, monitoring, and evaluation process, especially as it concerns racial disparities.
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: CSG Justice Center staff worked with RDAP’s chair and RDAP’s members to discuss data identification and analysis required by Act 148. During the September RDAP meeting, a subcommittee was formed to better identify data and resource gaps across the criminal justice system, and the subcommittee’s work continued through November to prepare for the December 1 report due to the legislature. The report outlines the high impact/high discretion decision points throughout the criminal justice system and the measures that need to be collected at each point as well as the tools needed in Vermont to better sustain information sharing efforts.
Chair of RDAP presented the findings outlined in the report to members of the Joint Justice Oversight Committee Meeting.