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Witnesses tell committee H.222's domestic-violence program expansion is manageable; reporting system to track referrals
Summary
Department of Corrections staff, the attorney general's office and the Vermont Council on Domestic Violence told lawmakers that current domestic-violence accountability programs can absorb some additional referrals under H.222 and that the Council will provide ongoing reporting beginning in 2027.
The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on H.222 about requiring a domestic-violence accountability program as an option in certain court orders and adding a reporting requirement; Department of Corrections and Council officials said programs have capacity but that tracking and funding must be monitored.
Gary Marville, deputy director of field services for the Vermont Department of Corrections, said the programs "have been going fine" in his agency's experience, and that DOC views the bill's provision as "a potential intercept at an earlier junction" for people exhibiting intimate-partner violence. Marville said DOC funds many of the DV accountability providers and that the department has longstanding working relationships with most programs.
The committee discussed capacity and data. Carolyn Hansen of the Attorney General's Office confirmed that staff and the Council's data collection are improving and that a reporting provision in the bill could be implemented. Heather Holzer, co-director of the Vermont Council on Domestic Violence, said the council recently invested in a participant-level database and is preparing to analyze multi-year data with assistance from the University of Nebraska. Holzer told the committee: "We can absolutely do this," referring to the bill's reporting language, and said the council is already tracking participant pathways (self-referral, DOC supervision, DCF case plans) and would add a fourth pathway if H.222 passes.
Witnesses said some details remain to be monitored. Marville said program providers told DOC they can absorb additional referrals but acknowledged uncertainty about future demand: "we'll have to keep an eye on that to see if it has an impact that's gonna exceed capacity." Holzer said the Council has two fiscal years of participant-level data and is improving reporting on completion rates, risk scores and participant pathways, but completion statistics were not provided during the hearing.
Committee members asked that the bill's reporting requirement be ongoing rather than a one-time report. Hansen and Holzer indicated the 2027 report could be the first in a continuing series and that the Council and providers would supply the data; Holzer said the Council already provides baseline numbers to the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission.
No votes occurred on H.222 during the session; committee members said they expect to take a formal vote after floor action and asked for minor language edits to make the reporting requirement ongoing and to clarify what the report should include (number of defendants ordered to program; number who completed it; breakdown by referral pathway).
The committee will receive suggested technical edits to the reporting language and may address funding and capacity further if referral counts rise after implementation.
