Vermont corrections commissioner outlines priorities: staffing, health care, modernization

Commissioner Nick Dimel of the Vermont Department of Corrections told the Senate Committee on Institutions on Jan. 23 that the department’s immediate priorities are improving staff recruitment and retention, addressing inmate health and substance-use disorders, reducing disparities, and modernizing facilities and technology.

Dimel, who said he has led the department for about three-and-a-half years, summarized the state’s corrections system as a unified, state-run model that houses all detained and sentenced people in Vermont and manages community supervision. "Vermont's correction system is unusual, unique in several ways," he said, noting only five states use a fully unified model.

The memo to the committee emphasized scale and cost: the department employs roughly 1,100 staff, operates six facilities (five male, one female), runs 12 district offices and the corrections academy in Lindenville, and manages roughly a $220,000,000 budget that is “almost entirely general fund,” Dimel said. He told senators the system is operating at about 135% of available bed capacity and that roughly 115 people are currently housed out-of-state under contract.

On staffing, Dimel reported a systemwide vacancy rate near 14 percent and a 17–18 percent vacancy rate for security positions, which he described as the core challenge. "We hit a high watermark… security staff position vacancies in July were 32% vacant. So now we're down to between 17–18%… but it's stubbornly stuck there," he said. Dimel told the committee the department’s issue is less with recruitment than retention: many new hires leave before reaching one year on the job.

Senators raised personnel-investigation timelines and staff morale during the discussion. Dimel said personnel investigations are run by the state Department of Human Resources and that process can be lengthy, citing increased referrals after a policy change and the resulting backlog. "When we get it, we do try on the DOC side to move that as quickly as possible," he said, while acknowledging the process can feel ‘‘terribly unfair’’ and ‘‘emotionally taxing’’ to employees who spend months under investigation.

The commissioner described the incarcerated population as older and sicker than in prior decades, with high rates of chronic illness and substance-use disorders. He said about 66 percent of the population has an opioid use disorder and the department runs a large medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program. "If we included stimulants, cocaine, alcohol and other substance use disorders, we'd certainly be over 95%," he said. Dimel also said roughly 1,000 of about 1,400 incarcerated people have chronic illnesses and the average number of prescriptions per person is about 5.5.

Dimel said recidivism measures are imperfect but estimated a roughly 42 percent recidivism figure on the three-year measure; he added that the department’s caseworkers and community supervision staff have kept outcomes steady even as the incarcerated population’s risk score has increased since 2019.

On out-of-state placements and cost, staff told the committee the out-of-state per-diem is about $92 per day (roughly $34,000 annually). The department caps out-of-state placements at about 125 people and currently houses about 115 out-of-state.

Dimel presented the department’s first strategic plan, developed with line staff and leaders, and described four cross-cutting priorities: staff wellbeing and staffing; health and wellness of the incarcerated population; diversity, equity, inclusion and justice; and modernization of infrastructure, technology and practices. He told senators staffing must be solved first: "If we don't get staffing right, we can't do anything else."

On modernization, Dimel highlighted two capital priorities that have been discussed previously with the legislature: a planned replacement and re-design of the women’s facility that would include a reentry center modeled in part on a Maine facility, and a statewide Wi‑Fi/broadband installation that the department estimates would cost about $3.5 million. He said the broadband project has stalled despite a legislative heat‑mapping study and potential federal broadband funding that includes incarcerated populations as an eligible group. "If you want to make one revolutionary change to the corrections system, that is where it starts," he said of installing Wi‑Fi.

Other facility needs noted include expanded infirmary and mental‑health spaces, air conditioning work (estimated statewide at $20–25 million; a single complex such as Northwest could require roughly $8 million for roof and HVAC), and more specialized living units such as education, honors and reentry units. Dimel described honors units already operating in women’s and Springfield facilities where participants created a business plan and opened an on-site café.

On health care and reentry supports, Dimel described the department’s use of contractors for clinical services and said the department recently elevated health leadership to the executive table. He discussed efforts to expand peer recovery coaching (partners include Turning Point Centers) and sought federal and settlement funding for injectable medications for opioid use disorder. He also described a potential Medicaid 1115 waiver approach that would provide up to 90 days of Medicaid eligibility before release to support reentry planning and services.

Committee members requested the department’s full strategic plan and additional briefings on staffing, pretrial supervision, health services and the women's facility project. Dimel said the department will provide the long-form plan and deeper briefings over the session.

Ending: The committee thanked Commissioner Dimel; members signaled interest in follow-up hearings on staffing, the women’s facility, pretrial supervision and health care, and several senators said they would pursue broadband funding and other capital requests during the session.