Victim advocates tell committee VINE notifications, earned-time alerts need fixes, clearer notice and more resources

Jennifer Pullman, director of the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services, told the Corrections & Institutions Committee on Feb. 12 that Vermont's victim-notification system is underused and in some cases sends notices that are hard to read, in the wrong case, or available only in Spanish when other languages are needed.

"The system, as you heard, mentioned last week, only accommodates Spanish speaking and does not accommodate currently any other languages," Pullman told the committee. She added that many victims prefer simple, plain-language notices and the option to choose how often they receive updates: "For some victims ... I want to know each month if that person is getting time off. It makes me feel safer if I have this knowledge."

Pullman and committee members discussed earned time — the statutory mechanism by which people in custody may reduce a portion of their sentence for program participation and behavior — and current notification obligations under state law. Pullman said the statute (referenced in testimony as 28 V.S.A. § 8818) requires the Department of Corrections to notify offenders at least every 90 days about earned-time accrual and to post reductions monthly on the public site, but victims must currently seek earned-time information (for example, by using the VINE website) unless they opt in to receive regular notices.

Witnesses and advocates who have tested the current system reported a range of problems: letters containing legalese that are difficult for a traumatized reader to parse, messages that lack case specificity, wrong-case or wrong-person notices, and a national vendor product that is customizable but not currently configured to provide the plain-language, multi-language and opt-in menu advocates want. Pullman said human error and inconsistent coding in offices also cause incorrect notifications in some cases. "We have victims that have gotten the letter that the person was released and they're like, 'Oh my gosh' — and it's like, 'No, they were just transferred,'" Pullman said.

Committee members pressed for concrete remedies. Pullman recommended reintroducing a customizable "menu" of notification options so victims can choose frequency and channels, adding more languages beyond Spanish, improving plain-language formatting and readability of mailed notices, and increasing training and staffing for the agencies that operate and feed data to the notification system. She also recommended that the ad hoc working group established after last year's legislation (which includes DOC, state's attorneys, sheriffs, victim survivors and the Center for Crime Victim Services) be required to report back to joint oversight with specific recommendations and an implementation timetable.

Several committee members volunteered to meet with Pullman and the working group to produce near-term recommendations. Chair Emmons and others asked for a short report in the coming weeks so the group can "keep the group's feet to the fire" and identify changes that could be implemented during the session. Pullman said the fixes are feasible but will require commitment to training, configuration of the vendor product and additional victim-advocate staffing at both the Department of Corrections and state's attorneys' offices.

No formal action was taken at the hearing; members agreed to follow up with a small working subgroup and asked the DOC and vendor representatives to provide status updates and a schedule for proposed fixes.