Institutions committee backs funding to stabilize women’s Kids Apart program, to phase in men’s pilot at Newport

The House Institutions Committee on Feb. 26 considered H.219, legislation that would codify the Kids Apart family-visitation program into statute and provide start-up funding to expand the program to a men’s facility. Committee members indicated support for asking appropriators to fund the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility program in full and to provide initial funding to start a program at the Newport Correctional Facility, with the rollout and further expansion contingent on budget availability and a report back to legislative oversight bodies.

Committee members said the issue matters because Kids Apart supports incarcerated parents’ contact with children, a factor lawmakers said can improve family stability and long-term outcomes. “The program is incredibly valuable to the women that utilize it,” said Haley Summer, director of communications for the Department of Corrections, in testimony describing the program’s operations and recent study work to assess feasibility for expansion.

Witnesses from Lund and the Kids Apart program outlined how the existing Chittenden program operates and what is required to expand it. Ken Schatz, interim CEO of Lund, said the Chittenden program runs under a contract with DOC and that Lund supplements DOC funding with grants and fundraising. Kim LaRoche, director of parent-child center services at Lund, told the committee the Chittenden program’s total annual cost is $276,000 and that DOC currently…