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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 February, legislative leaders asked CSG Justice Center staff to attend hearings with the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions, House Committee on Judiciary, and Senate Committee on the Judiciary to discuss the Justice Reinvestment II Working Group’s fall 2020 process and the progress they made reviewing analyses and policy options related to their Act 148 statutory duties. This included considering ways to set up probation earned credit or earned discharge in Vermont and ways to strengthen mental health and substance use information sharing and care coordination for people in the criminal justice system. Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff continued to provide information as requested to lawmakers and stakeholders as they consider these new policy options and adjustments to enacted policy.
New Insights: The earned discharge from probation policy discussed by the working group is in the process of moving through Vermont’s State Senate and House. The bill, S.45, stipulates that the Department of Corrections must now recommend an individual for discharge at their midpoint if they do not have violations in the last 6 months and they have completed any programming required as a condition of probation. If an individual does not meet the requirements at the midpoint, they must be recommended for discharge once those requirements are met. The court may deny discharge if there is a determination of a public safety risk or victim concern. Senate bill 45 was read three times and passed by the Senate.

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 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 February, CSG Justice Center staff attended weekly meetings with the DOC and Parole Board in an effort to support the implementation of presumptive parole. 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, including the development of shared parole conditions of supervision.

CSG Justice Center staff also supported the DOC and Parole Board as they worked to determine areas for category 2 subaward funding to support implementation efforts.
New Insights: The earned good time policy outlined in Act 148 went into effect on January 1, 2021. In response to concerns from victims of crime, S.18 was introduced in the Vermont legislature to make limited carveouts to the earned good time law for the most serious offenses and to change the name from earned “good” time to earned time. The bill only applies to individuals who were sentenced after its enactment, since victims were upset that earned time would be available to individuals who were previously sentenced. Now, anyone who is sentenced for any crime other than life without parole will be eligible for earned time after the S.18 effective date. On February 18, Vermont State Senate passed S.18 with one nay vote. It is currently being examined by Vermont’s House Committee on Corrections and Institutions.

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 have continued to discuss with Vermont stakeholders how 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: In February, CSG Justice Center staff continued to meet regularly with AHS staff to support ongoing work to develop and implement policy and practice changes focused on increasing information sharing and care coordination across departments. AHS and CSG Justice Center staff continued planning for upcoming internal AHS working group meetings, which included discussing engaging a subcontractor to provide additional support and expertise.

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 have continued to work with the DOC to adopt more extensive data system changes to help with data-driven decision-making efforts. While the CSG Justice Center’s efforts are supported by Interim Commissioner, staff have encountered some difficulties with other DOC leaders. CSG Justice Center staff will continue to support DOC leadership and encourage their efforts to review data monitoring and address any IT changes in the form of new tracking modules in OMS.
The Executive Director of the Parole Board is in the process of providing data so that CSG Justice Center staff can begin the data monitoring process.
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: As a result of the December 1, 2020, report submitted to the Joint Justice Oversight Committee, legislation was introduced in February to create a Bureau of Racial Justice Statistics and the Bureau of Racial Justice Statistics Advisory Panel. CSG Justice Center staff continue to attend RDAP meetings and provide input when asked on the establishment of this new bureau and respond to questions from RDAP’s chairperson between meetings.

Additionally, CSG Justice Center staff began internal conversations on setting up the research plan to conduct further quantitative analysis of disparate criminal justice outcomes for different demographic groups in Vermont.

New Insights: Despite the introduction of legislation to establish the Bureau of Racial Justice Statistics, it is still unclear where this bureau will be located within Vermont state government. At their February meeting, RDAP members discussed where to house the body with three options emerging: under the direction of the Executive Director of Racial Equity, in the Agency of Digital Services, or as its own stand-alone body.