House Human Services panel debates new transportation and restraint rules and phases in out‑of‑state contractor standards

The House Human Services Committee on Thursday advanced detailed changes to transport and restraint rules in H657, the omnibus Department for Children and Families bill, even as lawmakers debated age limits, documentation timelines and whether out‑of‑state providers should be held to Vermont standards.

The committee’s markup centered on a rewritten transportation section that clarifies when restraints can be used during secure transports, what must be documented, and who may carry certain high‑level restraints. The bill would require entities that use restraints to document why less‑restrictive interventions were unavailable or unsuccessful and to specify the exact restraint used and the reasons softer options were inadequate. The draft also allows documentation after transport when restraints were required unexpectedly during transit.

Chair (reading the committee’s notes) said she wanted clarity that post‑event documentation would be allowed for reactive uses during transport and said the committee had redrafted the language to "guide sheriffs through the steps that need to be taken rather than it being kind of where the documentation comes attached to different pieces." The committee asked explicitly for reassurances that officers would not be penalized for reactive decisions made mid‑transport.

Windham County Sheriff Mark Anderson, who joined the meeting by Zoom and identified himself for the record as the past president of the Vermont Sheriff's Association, said he was "agnostic to the approach" but emphasized sheriffs typically receive advance notice when secure transport is expected and that they respond to a small number of high‑risk cases. "I have interacted with youth as young as six years old," Anderson said, noting some smaller children can be physically large and that law enforcement needs discretion on personnel safety.

Members debated whether waist shackles should be permitted only for designated law enforcement. One committee member said private contractors generally do not carry or use such equipment and moved to limit waist‑shackle authorization to law enforcement agencies; members supported restricting that form of restraint to entities trained to use it.

A separate point of contention was how to define time thresholds for oversight. The committee reaffirmed a 30‑minute threshold requiring clinical and administrative consultation but wrestled with whether behavior that continues past that approval could run unchecked. Some members urged that restraint remain explicitly within the time/assessment framework so there is an in‑person clinical or administrative review if restraint continues beyond an initial interval.

The bill also adds reporting and transparency requirements: the Department would post restraint and seclusion rates for children and licensed programs and include these data on the family division scorecard or another prominent location on its website. The Office of Child, Youth and Family Advocate was added as a recipient of annual reports that must include specified detail when the department’s technology allows.

On contractor standards, the chair proposed—and the committee accepted in principle—requiring any contract with out‑of‑state providers to include adherence to Vermont restraint and seclusion rules, but to delay the out‑of‑state requirement for two years to allow the department time to renegotiate contracts and operationalize compliance. The chair said she could not "have a double standard for children who are out of state and children who are in state" and argued a two‑year phase‑in would allow negotiations while making the policy clear.

There were no formal votes recorded during the session excerpted in the transcript; the committee planned to reconvene for a vote on the bill later the same day.

What’s next: The committee signaled plans to finalize drafting details (including placement of the ban on garments that restrict movement and precise effective dates for different sections) and to hold a vote later in the day.