[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6377237,"mediaKeyId","2139379-1f21a49148e48a9d9ae4261893230779","parentId",2139379,"title","Committee hears history of Vermont Correctional Industries deficit; assigns members to draft parameters before recommending $3.1 million fix","audioSeconds",958,"startMs",1715000,"endMs",2673000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2139379-1f21a49148e48a9d9ae4261893230779&start=1715&end=2673","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2139379-1f21a49148e48a9d9ae4261893230779/thumbnail_1715000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6377237/Vermont/Committee-hears-history-of-Vermont-Correctional-Industries-deficit-assigns-members-to-draft-parameters-before-recommending-31-million-fix","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6377237-1a3a69f1c14c1dc97fe2b87450e58b9a/orig.mp4?Expires=1770999249&Signature=kDd-s~PKhsCYtlNSmy8RWb70PxhDP0itPILtOEf99hkJs2eYVGYY7R-STVgPy~BCMIb41vw7G4xhpC-mLH562XVloChfze2yqXCea5mWLnK1HjJpb9kkj6v03ijk6FCXbxc4K3y4OOEGNa7FCZ3umSLZ2fMdbfjyK8d-sBgEJQ~XGnUlOa-wcHKiz5NcDkWQOcFPSxYcS-MX42BhtWufskNGnE4Kk1i66rw2EG5qNbKvroZZ6VeSmvJ3uhXT7v7IlGK0W6JTWB2~VzWavBgSgP6H6GnG9nBTKwQCc~~MoT9iF4nUWf96Z~EbaQxVP5~SuV~ypnWnsZ4upBBsdS1lng__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-01-22T18:10:54Z","article","The House Corrections & Institutions Committee on Jan. 22 heard detailed testimony about a long-running deficit in Vermont Correctional Industries (VCI) and directed three committee members to draft broad parameters to accompany any budget adjustment that would erase the balance.

Lynn Platt, financial director for the Department of Corrections, described VCI's original purpose as a set of production shops and work crews that provided vocational training, employment income and a matched-savings program for incarcerated people. Platt said VCI once operated multiple shops (woodworking, printing, sign and steel, plate-making and graphic arts) and a community work-crew program that performed municipal tasks. Over time, the program contracted; many shops closed, operations were suspended during COVID-19, and revenues fell while legacy expenses and closure costs accumulated.

Platt told the committee the VCI cash balance is in deficit by roughly $3.1 million and that the remaining operations are now limited to two small shops (license plates and a small graphic-arts operation). \"We sold everything through surplus as we are required to do, and we got pennies on the dollar,\" Platt said, describing attempts to dispose of equipment after shops closed. She said the plate and graphic-arts shops now generate only a minimal net positive (Platt estimated roughly $30,000 net in FY26), meaning it would take many years to repay the accumulated deficit through ongoing operations alone.

Linda Ladd, a Department of Corrections financial director who has overseen correctional industries work, explained the program's vocational transition: DOC shifted from a self-supporting production model toward a vocational training model tied to certifications and reentry services. The department has moved many staff costs into correctional services and is using grants and seed funding (including Act 183 funds) to stand up vocational programming, Ladd said.

Committee members expressed frustration that the deficit grew over multiple years without earlier notice and asked for documentation on prior appropriations and past corrective steps. Several members said they were open to clearing the $3.1 million deficit so DOC could \"clean up the books,\" but they also sought guardrails so the same shortfall would not recur. The committee did not take a final vote on a fund fix during the meeting; instead members assigned Representatives Troy, Mary and James to draft broad parameter language to accompany the governor's adjustment and to return with that language to the committee the following morning so the committee could act before transmission to Appropriations.

Why it matters: VCI historically provided paid work and a matched-savings option for incarcerated people; the program's contraction and the current deficit raise questions about how the state balances vocational training goals, the price of services sold to state agencies and municipalities, and the cost of operating programs that no longer generate sufficient revenue.

Next steps: Committee staff will provide the committee with historical appropriation documentation and prior one-time payments; the three assigned members will prepare parameter/intent language to accompany any recommendation to Appropriations. DOC staff said they will provide figures showing revenues, prior one-time appropriations and the timeline of the deficit.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","HCI 2025-01-22 1:10 PM","oneSentenceSummary","House Corrections & Institutions members were briefed on a roughly $3.1 million deficit in Vermont Correctional Industries (VCI), heard historical context and options from DOC financial staff, and assigned three members to draft recommended parameters to accompany any request to zero out the fund.","taxTitle","Corrections & Institutions, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",30574,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6377242,"Corrections committee recommends support for $1 million IT upgrades, flags $335,000 ADS invoice increase",1648,20000,1668000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2139379-1f21a49148e48a9d9ae4261893230779&start=20&end=1668","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2139379-1f21a49148e48a9d9ae4261893230779/thumbnail_20000.jpg","/articles/6377242/Vermont/Corrections-committee-recommends-support-for-1-million-IT-upgrades-flags-335000-ADS-invoice-increase","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6377242-4394df876ae2174fd6a008605c571ea5/orig.mp4?Expires=1770999249&Signature=aEis-O0YVFUPVwK5vV-DF9LIvdrCl1YLSgq3zs5Lu4dLCO4lGpFU1ViXDMqgmHBXp7KPjVuiA6Io6UCCaQTLYRTlT8F4RxFZPaCdE7VttCBX8Hb-3yGFOX8z9mVLZWylUxfIvl-LJ4Lu9JCYR3w3H6qEomYFfpb0I7C-LNaXnexbh7gngBMVo9EEC4hjR4fPwpl7RJFNBbtrfoBhm1ZVXyHqYGoA9PDbNXil5Qg3lGtZQJtai5CyuVZIFCTNC0KqVQUGyBVQI4QSz9FcAq1FNXY7UsvDLwz1dmrMqw29sup~PUFUZEODbxGF9-Ozgf569DqDNYPmMCgJq6TWBvREEQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Corrections & Institutions Committee recommended on Jan. 22 that the Appropriations Committee approve a governor’s budget adjustment that includes $1,000,000 to upgrade Department of Corrections (DOC) information systems tied to the 11/15 Medicaid waiver and an additional roughly $300,000–$335,000 increase in the Department’s Agency of Digital Services (ADS) service-level agreement costs.

The committee’s recommendation (12–7 on the committee count) covers two related items in the governor’s midyear general fund budget adjustment: a $1,000,000 capacity-building request (listed in the document as $500,000 general fund and $500,000 federal funds) to enhance DOC’s offender management and electronic health-record systems for Medicaid billing under the 11/15 waiver; and an increase to the ADS SLA invoice that Deputy Commissioner Kristen Calvert said exceeds the department’s original estimate.

Why it matters: the 11/15 waiver allows DOC to bill Medicaid for eligible services beginning Jan. 1, 2026, and the committee was told the systems upgrades are required for the department to identify and bill Medicaid for those services. Committee members said approving the upgrade now would let the department implement technical changes before the waiver takes effect and draw federal funds that, by statute and policy as explained to the committee, must be reinvested in correctional health services rather than replace state funding.

Kristen Calvert, Deputy Commissioner of Corrections, told the committee that the ADS service-level invoice for DOC runs about $1.1 million to $1.2 million annually and that the budget adjustment line being considered represents roughly a $335,000 increase over the estimate used in the department’s FY25 budget. Calvert said ADS recalculates invoices midyear based on current employee counts, licensing usage and services, which can produce higher charges than the prebudget estimate. \"Our annual ADS SLA invoice is about 1.1 to 1,200,000, and this is 335,000,\" Calvert said.

Ashley Berliner, director of Medicaid policy at the Agency of Human Services, described how the waiver generates federal dollars for services delivered inside DOC and how federal reimbursement produces state savings that the department plans to reinvest. \"For the first time, we're getting federal Medicaid dollars in both walls of the facility,\" Berliner said. \"Every federal dollar that comes in ... can't be replacing state funds. So any state fund savings because of that federal dollar has to be reinvested into the correctional setting.\" Berliner told the committee the year-one estimate of gross savings used to draw federal match is about $3,200,156 and that the administration has earmarked roughly $3,000,000 in year-one capacity-building funds across DOC, vendor systems and a new state case-management team.

Committee members pressed for additional detail from ADS on how it computes the midyear invoice and for written backup on the savings calculations that underpin the federal match. Calvert agreed to request ADS provide its calculation methodology so the committee would have that information before its Appropriations recommendation deadline.

The committee approved forwarding a recommendation in favor of the budget adjustment to the Appropriations Committee after discussion. Committee members said the request is likely acceptable because the technical upgrades are needed to implement the waiver on schedule, but several members asked staff to provide a clearer ADS cost justification before the Appropriations hearing.

Details and next steps: the technical upgrade is described in the budget adjustment document as a $1,000,000 total request (500,000 general fund and 500,000 federal funds) for offender management and electronic health-record enhancements; the ADS SLA increase called out by DOC staff adds roughly $300,000--$335,000 to the department's annual ADS charges (bringing the department's ADS-related spending closer to an estimated $1.4 million for the year if approved). The committee expects ADS to submit a calculation of the invoice methodology and will transmit the committee's recommendation and any requested intent language to Appropriations.","The House Corrections & Institutions Committee on Jan. 22 recommended that Appropriations approve a governor’s budget adjustment that includes $1 million to upgrade Department of Corrections systems to implement the 11/15 Medicaid waiver and an additional Agency of Digital Services (ADS) invoice increase of roughly $335,000.","actionData","errors"]

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Committee hears history of Vermont Correctional Industries deficit; assigns members to draft parameters before recommending $3.1 million fix

Corrections committee recommends support for $1 million IT upgrades, flags $335,000 ADS invoice increase