Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Corrections Family Support topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House orders third reading on bill to expand family support programs for incarcerated parents
Summary
H.219 would codify and expand a family support program that provides parenting supports, child-friendly visitation, and reentry services for incarcerated parents; the House adopted committee and appropriations amendments and ordered third reading.
The Vermont House ordered third reading of H.219, a bill to establish a Department of Corrections family support program for incarcerated parents and guardians and to phase in statewide access through grants or contracts with nonprofit providers.
Representative Sweeney, member from Shelburne, told the chamber the program builds on an existing model operating at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility for women and seeks to extend trauma-informed parenting, visitation, cross-system coordination, and reentry supports to both women and men in correctional facilities. "The program's trauma informed approach strengthens family connections, minimizes the adverse effects of incarceration, and fosters better outcomes for both parents and children," Sweeney said.
The bill as amended places the program in statute, requires the commissioner of corrections to include funding in the governor's proposed budget, and permits DOC to issue grants or contracts to nonprofits to operate the program. The initial implementation will occur at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility (women's facility) and Northern State Correctional Facility (men's facility). The bill text shown on the floor originally included appropriation figures to fill funding gaps ($115,424 for the women's facility and $268,155 for Northern State), but the Appropriations Committee reported a strike-all amendment that removed section 5 (the standalone appropriation) on the grounds that funds were already requested within DOC's FY26 budget.
Representative Sweeney quoted a program participant to describe program impact: "Incarceration is some of the most helpless, hopeless, and meaningless days of your life. Because of Kids Apart, I still felt like my son's mother and felt included in the parenting process," the participant said (quote read in committee testimony on the floor).
Committee votes reported: Corrections and Institutions 9-1-1; Appropriations reported H.219 as amended favorably on a vote of 11. The House adopted the committee amendments and ordered third reading.
