Committee backs H.219 funding to codify and expand 'Kids Apart' visitation program; bill asks about $400,000

The House Corrections & Institutions Committee reviewed H.219 and recommended supporting funding to codify the Kids Apart prison visitation program and to pilot an expansion into a men’s facility.

Committee members described the Lund Family Center’s Kids Apart program at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility as an established visitation service that is not currently codified in statute. The bill presented to the committee would both ensure continued funding for the CRCF program and provide funds to start a pilot at the men’s facility in Newport to create gender parity in visitation services.

Committee members said the total near‑term cost to make the CRCF program whole and to start the Newport pilot is about $400,000, a figure that was described as the basis for the appropriation included in the bill. DOC staff reported that departmental savings or internal reallocation could cover about $390,000 the department has identified, and members discussed whether the committee should recommend the supplemental funding.

Members clarified that codifying the program in statute would create an ongoing obligation for the Department of Corrections, meaning future budgets would need to include the line item if the program is added to DOC’s baseline. The committee indicated it would recommend inclusion of the funding and language referencing H.219 and asked staff to include an appropriation recommendation of up to $400,000 in their budget language.

The committee treated the funding recommendation as a proposal to be considered by Appropriations, not as a final appropriation at this meeting.